Hate and Love Unite
by Twisted Ingenue
Summary: The darkness is vast and without a ray of hope. Until there's a flash of hazel in the dead of night that ignites a strange, and eerie fire in two unlikely hearts. Can anything work out when these two loathe each other? JosefXOC main pairing
1. Something might gain on you

**A.N. Hey you all! Thanks for clicking on this story! I'm quite appreciative. Anyways…I'd like to apologize for any OOCness in Josef. I've only seen all the episodes once or twice, people…and there haven't been many episodes of Moonlight…only like 10, 11, 12, or 13 (I'm not counting). So…this is my interpretation of him. I think I have him IC…I don't know...why don't you tell me via review?**

…

It was dark. Too dark. The street was so dark that it appeared to be unreachable to the lively nightlights of Los Angeles. It seemed to be the "darkness disposal site" of L.A…where all the darkness and gloom in city was swept into a dustpan and dumped there.

Mindy Porter quickened her pace, desperate to get away from the shadowy avenue. Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer against her chest as she walked…one foot after the other,

_"__Click… Clack…Click…__Clack…"_

Her high heels were clattering on the pavement. Mindy was walking home from a fancy banquet, wearing heeled shoes and a chic, black dress, celebrating the marriage of one of her clients. Mindy was a debt consultant, and fortunately, the client whose wedding banquet she attended had pulled himself out of his debt and had become a rather successful real estate agent.

_"Click, Clack, Click, Clack, Click…"_

The sounds coming from her shoes were becoming closer and closer together. She was moving her feet faster, almost running, very anxious to flee the sinister neighborhood.

But the darkness was seemingly endless. No matter how fast Mindy moved, the shady buildings kept appearing in front of her and the cold kept enclosing around her bare arms and legs. The blackness was vast.

Her chest began to sting from her heavy breathing. She wanted to stop running. She wanted to rest. But she continued racing down the cemented sidewalk. Mindy had a strange hunch that if she stopped moving, something would gain on her. Mindy's intuition told her that someone was following her.

Tears of terror sprung in her light green eyes as she _imagined_ shadows encircling around her. She didn't know if she was just imagining things…or if it were real. Well, she sure as hell wasn't going to wait there to find out!

Strands of light brown hair impaired her vision even further as they fell in front of her eyes. Mindy felt a light tug on the back of her head. The fancy bun she had her hair in was falling out. Soon, her hair began flying around everywhere as bobby pins clattered to the ground.

_"CRACK!"_

The high, flimsy heel of her right shoe snapped in two, causing Mindy to lose balance and plummet to the cement.

Luckily for her face and skull, Mindy's elbows and knees took most of the impact. But, boy, they stung terribly and her entire body throbbed painfully from the hard fall.

Mindy tried to push herself up with the palms of her hands, but failed miserably. It didn't feel like she had broken any bones, but her body was too exhausted from all the running she'd been doing to be any help to her at that time.

"SHIT!" Mindy cursed, voice choked, trying not to cry. Her elbows and knees hurt so badly. She must've skinned them.

She attempted to push herself up again, but before she could test her strength, Mindy felt two firm hands grab her almost bare shoulders and pull her upright. But since one shoe had no heel, she lost her balance again and toppled onto something…_someone_…someone's chest, to be exact.

Strong arms went around Mindy, but this time she wasn't pulled up. The arms simply kept her in place…up against the body which they were attached to.

"You're like a Barbie doll," A voice coming from the…_thing_…holding her was laughing. She noticed that the voice was very smooth, rich, slightly aristocratic, and…was it just her imagination or did it sound slightly conceited?

"Wh-What?" Mindy was trembling violently, scared out of her wits.

"A Barbie doll," the voice said. "Those damn things never stand up on their own because of their out-of-proportion feet. Or…so I'm told…I don't really play with dolls." Mindy was silent, too dumbfounded for speech, so the voice continued talking,

"I suggest you take those off. They're like death traps."

Mindy tried to bend down to push off the straps of her shoes, but was stopped due to the arms around her.

"I-I…c-can't…you're…holding on…t-too tight." Mindy stammered.

"Just trying to make sure you don't fall down again," the voice said simply, but the grasp on her loosened and she was able to push her shoe straps off of her ankles.

Once she had slipped out of her shoes and was standing barefooted on the cold street, she took a deep breath to calm herself down. If she could calm her clients, she could definitely calm herself.

"You're good now?" the voice asked smugly. The arms still had a hold on Mindy.

"Yes, thank you," Mindy had regained her composure, though her pitch was a note higher than usual due to a little remaining skittishness. "You can let me go now."

The arms released her very slowly and she felt hands moving down her arms.

"Ow!" Mindy pulled back suddenly as the hands brushed up against her elbows.

"Sorry," the voice said smoothly, not sounding even remotely sorry.

Mindy looked down at her knees and elbows. All were scratched up considerably and all the wounds were bleeding. The elbows bled more freely since those probably had scraped up against the pavement with more force.

"Well…aren't you ever going to look up to see your _knight in shining armor_?" the voice chuckled.

"Huh?" Mindy said absentmindedly, still inspecting her injuries.

"Inattentive today, aren't we?" the voice remarked, deviously amused.

Mindy fixed her gaze upwards to see the silhouette of a fairly tall, muscular man.

"Oh wait," the shadowed man laughed. "You can't see me, can you?"

"Am I supposed to care?" Mindy replied dryly.

"Hey…what if I'm Brad Pitt?" he pointed out, taking Mindy's hand and leading her to the nearest streetlamp.

"Brad Pitt's handsome…but an egotistical prick," Mindy scoffed.

"I'm the first one…I can tell you that," the man stood under the flickering lamplight as the light cascaded over him…revealing himself to Mindy.

Once her eyes focused properly, she saw that he was pale as ivory with sharp, precise facial features. He had thin, light pink lips that were curved up into an arrogant leer and his hazel, scheming eyes were focused directly on Mindy's, as if they were trying to pierce into her soul.

"And look…" the man held up his hands. His fingertips were lightly coated with her blood. "You've soiled my hands."

"It's your own fault," Mindy snorted, looking down to wipe the blood from her elbows onto her black dress.

While she wasn't looking, the man put his fingers by his tongue and casually licked the blood clean from the tips of his fingers.

Mindy looked back up. "Well…thanks for your help," Mindy nodded curtly towards him. "I'm going to get going now."

"Without shoes?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Why not?" Mindy shrugged. "Better than those "death traps", as you put it." Mindy gestured at the shoes and sighed. "There goes thirty-three bucks down the drain."

"Oh boo-hoo," the man rolled his eyes. "That's pretty cheap if you ask me."

"What are you, then, Donald Trump?" Mindy glared at him.

"Kind of…just a little sexier," the man examined his fingernails.

"Are you for real?" Mindy huffed, thoroughly disgusted.

"Kind of,"

"Whatever," Mindy picked up her shoes and began walking away. "Au revoir,"

After she took about six steps, the man rapidly moved in front of her. Mindy let out a startled scream which sent the man into a laughing fit.

Mindy tried to calm her racing heart. "Well…" she panted. "You did track in high school?"

The man chuckled softly after his raucous bout of laughter. "No…_basketball._ Why? Am I a little too athletic for you?" His hazel eyes gleamed almost maliciously, sending an icy sensation down Mindy's spine.

"Er…" Mindy bit her lip. "It's really been…nice talking to you." Mindy tried to move past him, but he blocked her way.

"Going so soon?" the man flashed her a chillingly charismatic smile revealing perfect, white teeth. "But we having even introduced each other yet."

"Look…" Mindy sighed, putting her hand inside the front of her dress. "I know what it is you want…and you can have it." She reached down inside her bra and produced a one-hundred dollar bill, holding it out to the man.

The man, who had been watching her with a curious eye ever since her hand went down the neckline of her evening dress, began to laugh once again as he pushed her hand back.

"You think I want your _money_?!" the man snickered behind his hand as if trying to be polite by not laughing at someone. He was doing a horrible job of seeming like anyone well-cultured or civilized. "Please…as if _I _needed money!"

Though Mindy was slightly glad that she didn't have to give up her emergency cash, she was somewhat unnerved by the fact that he obviously wanted something else.

"Well," Mindy puffed up her chest, which was unfortunately a tad mediocre in size. "If you want to rape me, you're out of luck. I have pepper spray." She was bluffing about the pepper spray, of course.

"Raping isn't my style," the man confessed, raising his eyebrows as his hazel eyes glinted in the lamplight. "I pay to get my way."

"You're disgusting," Mindy spat.

"And _you_ don't know the half of it," the man countered, still smiling, though for some reason it seemed rather forced.

"Ah…finally you tell the truth," Mindy had adopted the most sardonic voice she could muster. "That you're a scumbag."

"How would you know?" the man stepped up, voice sharper and less oily than it had been before.

"I can tell," Mindy shrugged. "Though it's only been a few minutes…I can tell."

"Why am I even wasting my time with you?" the man grumbled. "I hate bolshie women, anyways." The man began walking away.

"Wait!" This time, Mindy was the one laughing. "Shouldn't we _introduce _ourselves, first?"

"Oh?" the man turned around, crossing his arms. "Now _you're _interested in getting acquainted?" He started to circle her like a hungry bird of prey.

"Stop moving around me like that," Mindy gave him a shove in the chest. "It's creepy."

He stopped at the side of her, took her shoulders, and lightly spun her around towards him. He then let her go and held out his hand.

"Josef Kostan," he introduced himself. He frowned slightly when Mindy didn't take his hand. "Well?"

Mindy cautiously reached out to take Josef's hand, afraid that he might pull her in if she took it.

But he did not pull her in closer to him. Instead he firmly grasped her hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you," Mindy said with clenched teeth.

"Pleasure's all mine," Josef replied coolly, still shaking her hand.

"You can let go now, you know." Mindy informed him. A stretched fake smile played on her lips.

Josef let go of her hand and continued to eye her avidly. "You have a name, sweetheart?"

"Emily," Mindy lied slowly, using the name of her client's bride to be.

Josef suspiciously studied her for a moment, scrutinizing ever little move she made.

'You don't look like an Emily," Josef concluded. "You must be lying."

"Emily is my name!" Mindy snapped, a little too defensively.

"It is not," Josef smirked.

"It is too," Mindy pouted.

"Is not,"

"Is too,"

"Is not,"

"Fine!" Mindy threw up her hands. "I'm not Emily. Happy now?"

"Not quite," Josef pursed his lips.

There was a long awkward silence as Josef pondered something. Finally, he spoke,

"I bet I can guess your name,"

"What?" Mindy snorted, amused. "You couldn't do that."

"So…we're on?" Josef's eyes flashed with the thrill of a challenge.

"Whatever," Mindy sniffed.

"Let's say we make things more interesting," Josef took a step closer so that the two of them were almost at eye level. They were surprisingly about the same height, though Mindy was about an inch shorter.

"Okay then…lay it on me," Mindy lifted up her heels and stood on the balls of her feet so that she was exactly his height.

"I guess your name right…letter by letter…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mindy cut him off.

"Okay," Josef took a deep breath. "Suppose your name was…Cassie. And I'll go…A, B, C, D…and if I say "Is it a C?" Or something like that…you'll nod to tell me that was right. Then I'd maybe say "A" and you'd nod…"

"And if you said "P"…"

"You'd shake your head and you'd win the bet," Josef grinned. "And I also have to say…"Cassie" when I'm done."

"So what's the deal?" Mindy quirked an eyebrow.

"If I guess your name…I get to hire a limo, take you back to my place and fix you up…" Josef rubbed his chin. "Oh…and I'll let you borrow a pair of shoes."

"Your place?" Mindy made a face. "I'll pass."

"Hey…it's only if I win," Josef shrugged. "I probably won't win…but it's my only chance."

"So…" Mindy looked at him suspiciously. "If _I _win…you let me borrow your cell phone…"

"Alright," Josef nodded in approval, pulling out a silver, expensive looking cellular phone.

"…and I get to call my boyfriend to pick me up…"

"Boyfriend?" Josef's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you making said boyfriend up or is he real?"

"Of course he's real," Mindy retorted. "We've been dating for about three months now…"

"Oh, really?" Josef stood up straighter.

"Yes, _really_," Mindy rolled her eyes. "And I'm not finished yet."

"Carry on," Josef sighed.

"After I call my boyfriend…you leave me alone...forever."

"Forever?" Josef chuckled. "That's an awful long time."

"Going home with you?" Mindy countered. "That's an awful…well…it's just awful."

"Are we on?" Josef's voice was riddled with competitiveness as he held out his hand.

"Oh…you're on!" Mindy took his hand and gave it a very "deal sealing" shake.

Josef began to pace around her. "Are you ready?"

"More than ready," Mindy replied in a taunting voice.

Josef stood in front of her, about two inches away, staring intently in her eyes as he began to recite the alphabet slowly. "A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M…"

Mindy's heart gave a jolt as he said "M". But her exterior remained calm.

"…N, O,P…" Josef stopped and looked her up and down, his eyes moving like an elevator. "M. M is the first letter of your name."

"What?!" Mindy was taken aback. "But…"

_"It's just a coincidence," _her sensible conscience said. _"Calm down."_

"So…is it an M, then?" Josef was annoyingly smug.

"Yes," Mindy nodded her head slowly.

"Wow!" Josef had on a sarcastic voice. "That was such a lucky guess!"

"Shut up, it was only one letter." Mindy sniffed.

"Okay…" Josef was still smirking. "A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I…J…" Josef was keeping steady, unrelenting eye contact with Mindy, making her feel very nervous. "I?"

Mindy bit her lip as her heart began racing. _How was he doing this? _

"Answer me," Josef said with a casually amused drawl.

"It's I," Mindy responded inaudibly.

"Good," Josef smiled. "Still in the lead."

"Just keep going," Mindy snarled.

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N…" Josef licked his lips and leered even wider (if that was possible). "It's N."

"How the hell are you doing that?" Mindy interrogated him harshly. "Tell me, now!"

"That's not part of the game, darling," Josef was toying with her sanity. "But…I will give you a hint..."

"What hint?" Mindy asked skeptically.

"Maybe I'm magic,"

"Shut up," Mindy groaned.

"I'm serious,"

"You're a pompous dork, that's what you are." Mindy growled.

"You make me feel all fuzzy inside," Josef snorted, rolling his eyes. "Now…shall we finish our game?"

"Well…"

"Why am I asking?" Josef appeared to be talking to himself, but he obviously wanted Mindy to hear. "We shook on it. Neither of us can back out."

"Just stop effing around and finish then!" Mindy snapped, in a nasty mood.

"Alright, then," Josef moved in closer, peering into her eyes even more. "A, B, C, D, E…wait…" Josef ran a hand through his hair. "It's D."

Mindy simply nodded, too angry…and scared…to speak.

"Super," Josef said. "A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y…Y…the next letter is Y."

"Yes." Mindy was glowering with anger and disbelief.

"The next letter…" Josef furrowed his brow, stopping for a moment. "Ah…there _is _no next letter, is there?" Mindy didn't reply. "So we have an M, an I, an N, a D, and a Y." Josef beamed triumphantly. "Your name is _Mindy_."

"You…You…" Mindy's face was burning with anger.

"Yes?" Josef raised his eyebrows and smirked. "You want a stretch limo with leather seats? I can manage that I th-…"

"YOU HUSTLED ME, YOU BASTARD!" Mindy roared. "YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THAT YOU…"

"Inside voices, dear." Josef put his index finger over her lips. "People won't listen when you yell."

Mindy slapped his hand away, feeling degraded. "You…" she was livid, but her voice was lowered to a hiss. "You didn't…tell me…that you were a fucking…psychic. You…_cheated_. You didn't play fair."

"Life's not fair, sweetheart," Josef replied, pulling out his cell phone. "So…is this Godine Street?"

"Deal's off!" Mindy shouted. "You tricked me!" Mindy huffed and began storming off. But before she could take three steps, two hands grabbed her shoulders, holding her back.

"You're not going to break our agreement, are you?" Josef spun her around to face him. "I wouldn't suggest that." Josef's scheming eyes flashed. "I actually would strongly advise against it. I don't like people who break deals."

"And I don't like people who are filthy, cheating hustlers!" Mindy countered irately.

"And I don't like people who are sore losers," Josef replied calmly.

"Well…I don't like _you_." Mindy spat.

"I don't like you much either," Josef chortled.

"Then why won't you leave me alone?"

There was another uncomfortable silence in between them.

"Because I'm nice," Josef said finally with a shrug as he opened the cell phone and started dialing. "Now shut up…I'm going to call for a limo."

**…**


	2. Jazz vs Screeching

**A.N. Wow…this story already is on 9 "'Story Alert" lists. Must be popular. I only entered this yesterday. Woo hoo! Twisted Ingenue is VERY happy.**

**Sorry for the unprofessional A.N. Let me know if you have any suggestions or feedback on how I can make this story better. I'd prefer not to have flames…but if you really hate this story THAT much, I guess I can let it slide. I understand how tempting it can be to inform someone that their story is complete crap. **

**Ahem…I'll let you read now.**

…

The blue-green colored lights that bordered the interior of the stretch limo reflected gently off of the black leather upholstery of the seats giving it an eerie, yet oceanic kind of glow.

Mindy and Josef were sitting across from each other. While Mindy sat slumped in her seat, Josef looked far more relaxed and he was nodding to the jazz music emitting from the limo radio. The driver, Greg, always had it turned to Josef's favorite station. In fact, the limo they were in pretty much belonged to Josef since he rode in it so much.

Josef loved jazz music. When he partied with girls, he usually settled for popular dance soundtracks or horny oldies songs. But when he was alone or with his male friends, he listened to jazz. Instrumental or with lyrics, he listened to it. It calmed him and helped him keep a tranquil composure.

Besides the music, the both of them remained quiet, glancing over at each other occasionally. Josef with a smirk and Mindy with a glare.

"You want anything to drink?" Josef asked, opening the lid of a built-in cooler, breaking the silence with his usual conversation starter. Beverages. Hard or soft. He always offered drinks and never had a sip for himself. No, there was only one thing that tempted his taste buds. Everything else was simply dirt. He couldn't even remember the taste of the drinks he offered. He only knew one taste…a metallic, syrupy, hot liquid. Blood.

"I'm good," Mindy replied softly, crossing her arms and peering out the darkened windows.

There was more silence that followed. It was so unnerving to Josef that he _had _to fill in the dead space,

"_I…just can't…keep my balance…in the air…the stars are free…" _Josef began softly singing along with his favorite jazz band, _Gentle Dusk_. _"As I move…with the wind…and I enter in…I see your face and cry. 'Cause I can't keep my balance. No, I can't keep my…"_

"Would you hush?" Mindy snapped, thoroughly irritated. "You can't sing your way out of a paper bag."

Her remark injured Josef's pride greatly. He'd always been under the impression that he was a marvelous singer. He wasn't _that _bad, really…but he thought he was much better than he really was.

"You're just jealous," Josef sniffed. "Because you can't sing as well as I can."

"That may be true…" Mindy winced, thinking of her own screeching singing voice. "But at least I have better taste in music than you do. How the hell can you listen to this crap?"

Josef sat up straight, greatly offended. _No one_ was allowed to take stabs at his music. "It's jazz and I happen to like it."

"It's shit and I happen to hate it," Mindy retorted.

"You just don't have the sophistication and intellect to appreciate _good_ music," Josef spat, reaching over to the stereo that stood in the middle of the two and he cranked up the volume just as Boris Azure went into his saxophone solo.

Mindy's eyes narrowed, giving Josef a hostile glare. "Your music sucks."

"What?!" Josef pretended not to hear her as he turned his music up.

Mindy groaned in exasperation, leaning over to adjust the station. When she reached the dial, she changed it to her preferred station…the rock/heavy metal station. And to her delight, one of her favorite bands,_Artery Chill_, was on the air.

Her "beloved" music was excessively loud and reeked of the artist's adrenaline. As the singers screamed and roared, Mindy "sang" along,

_"The thrill of __a challenge…the fight of a lifetime. Holding on…bein' strong…spillin' blood upon __the throng…of people…shadows of the night__…" _

"Holy crap! What the hell is that noise coming from your mouth?!" Josef grimaced at the sound of the squeaky electric guitar…and Mindy's horrific singing voice.

"_I CAN HEAR THE BATTLE CRY!" _Mindy was hollering more than singing, just to irk Josef. "_I CAN SEE IT IN YOUR…"_

Josef leaned over, clamping a hand over her mouth, and moved the dial back to the jazz station. _Gentle Dusk _was still playing their harmonious, rich music.

"Whew…" Josef heaved a sigh. "It's great to hear _real _music again."

Mindy pried his hand off her mouth and gave his hand a hard slap. "You even think about doing that again and I swear…" Mindy paused for a moment and cringed as she noticed the jazz music. "Someone needs to put that poor, dying animal out of its misery." Mindy smirked. "Oh, wait…it's just the sound of your music." Mindy switched the station back to her sonorous music. This naturally caused her to begin singing along again,

"_FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO CRUSH BONES! IN CASE YOUR ALLIES FLEE AND LEAVE YOU ALONE! TO BLEED…"_

Josef angrily grabbed the dial and turned it to his station. He began singing, much louder than necessary,

"_My heart's…in a windstorm…toppling to the floor…"_

Mindy pursed her lips and changed back it to her station,

"THE VIBRATION OF THE WAR! CAN'T YA SEE THE SHIMMER IN THE GORE? EVERY DAY…"

Josef shoved her hand away from the dial and turned it to his station. Nonverbally declaring war between their music.

"_Starlight…midnight…daylight…I still can't keep my…"_

_"PULL THEM DOWN! MAKE EM' FROWN! SEE THE TREMBLE…"_

_"No, I can't keep my balance…whenever I see y-…"_

_"OF THE WORLD! CAN'T YOU HEAR THE…?"_

_"…whenever I'm near you. I can hear you…like a…"_

_"THE BATTLE CRY…"_

_"The love is…"_

_"FIGHT FOR THE…"_

_"Like a moonlight…"_

_"SCREAMIN'…"_

_"Floatin'…"_

_"Click!"_

The radio went off, leaving behind a dead, "musicless" silence in the limo.

The limo suddenly swerved off the road and stopped in a grassy area.

"Greg!" Josef called out. "What…?"

The screen between the driver and the passengers was rolled down to reveal a frazzled driver who looked like he'd been pushed over the edge.

"Look…" Greg, the limo driver, said. "You both are driving me _crazy_. If you two can't learn to play nicely, I swear I will throw you out."

"Greg…" Josef almost pouted, something very uncharacteristic for him. "I'm your best customer…"

"Best _paying_ customer," Greg sniffed. "And by the way…you _both _have horrible tastes in music. End of story. No radio tonight." The automatic screen rolled up and the limo began to move again.

"I guess the silence is better than your crap," Mindy stated decisively, propping her feet up on the long stretch of seats beside her.

"Could you repeat that? I think I've gone deaf from your singing voice." Josef retorted.

"You were deaf to begin with," Mindy huffed. "Ever since you started listening to that jazz junk."

_"God, she's annoying,_" Josef thought indignantly to himself, slightly regretting ever having picking her up from the sidewalk. But the allure of her blood had been too tempting to resist when he inhaled the enticing aroma of the blood coming from her wounds. She had a delicious blood type. AB negative. Sweet and piquant at the same time with a creamy, sultry texture and a basic, exotic flavor. Her blood was absolutely mouth-watering. He could even smell the tantalizing blood when her wounds stopped bleeding and began to scab over. Josef could smell it through her flesh, the scent as powerful as ever. He absolutely couldn't wait to get home and have a taste. Just a few swallows. He didn't want to kill her…

"So are you trying to show off for me or something?" Mindy asked coolly. "Because I honestly think this limo is ridiculously pretentious."

On second thought, maybe he would drain her. He could always call the clean-up crew to destroy any evidence.

_"But Mick would find out," _Josef pointed out to himself. _"And he'd turn me in like the goody-goody he is…"_

Yet, Josef knew Mick St. John wouldn't rat him out. Mick was his best friend. The only one who didn't just like him because of his vast riches. No. Mick was a good friend. Though at times they disagreed (almost all the time, really) and Mick told Josef on many occasions that he was a conceited jerk…they were both of the same race…both were vampires. And the two of them had stuck together through thick and thin.

"_Okay…maybe he'd give me a "scolding"." _Josef thought. _"Is it really worth it to kill her if the consequence is a "Mick Lecture"?" _Josef weighed his options and gave an involuntary shudder as he thought of said "Mick Lectures". _"Nah…it's not really worth it."_

"You know…" Mindy started to say.

"Would you please…?" Josef clenched his teeth, controlling his temper. "Be. Quiet. For. One. Minute. One minute is all I ask!"

"Mr. Kostan, we're here," Greg announced, rolling down the screen and holding out his hand. "Cash, por favor?"

"Fine," Josef grumbled, reaching into his coat pocket and handing Greg a large wad of one-hundred dollar bills.

"Gracias," Greg nodded, closing the screen and getting out of the car, opening the door for Mindy and Josef.

"Ladies first," Mindy motioned for Josef to exit the limo.

"You little," Josef reached over to pinch her.

"Hey! Keep your hands to yourself." Greg hooted with laughter. "Boy, you two are like little kids! I have to say, sir…she's pretty different from the ladies that usually accompany you…"

"Shut up," Josef grumbled, pushing Mindy out of the limo first.

…

**A.N. Sorry for the considerably shorter chapter. I promise the next one will be a little more satisfying (in length and/or plot). Also…**_**Gentle Dusk **_**and **_**Artery Chill**_** are mine…I didn't feel like stealing song lyrics from anyone in this chapter. I may later, though. I often have songs in my fics. I usually weave in pop culture somewhere in my stories.**


	3. Thirst overpowers

"Holy mother of Jesus…"

Josef felt smugly pleased by Mindy's reaction to his penthouse apartment. Of course he was used to it, but it never failed to bring a wide, arrogant grin to his face.

Yes, Josef Kostan knew he was extremely wealthy, loaded, moneyed, prosperous…all those delightful words for filthy rich. And Josef was not afraid to admit it. He'd lived four-hundred plus years earning his cash and he assumed that he had a right to show it off.

"Like it?" Josef closed the door behind them as Mindy gaped at the elaborate, contemporary, very _expensive looking _apartment.

"It's…" Mindy tried to speak, but was failing miserably due to the shock.

"Amazing?" Josef finished for her, flinging off his jacket on the back of a red, Picasso inspired couch and plopping down upon it. Even while "plopping down", he was able to keep a subtle elegance in his movements. "You want anything to drink, now?" Josef picked up a long, black remote that rested on a gold counter next to the couch. He pressed a button and a shiny, red cooler automatically emerged from the coffee table in the middle of the room. "Like this? It's new. Got it last week." Josef pressed another button and the cooler opened. Almost every beverage known to man was hidden in the ice.

Mindy finally closed her open mouth and regained her composure. She apparently didn't want to lose all of her self-control because of some "fancy-schmancy" high-rise apartment.

"Show off," Mindy sniffed.

"At least I _have _something to show off," Josef's cool nature was beginning to fade.

"Who says I don't?" Mindy retorted.

"Your Target-brand evening dress, that's who," Josef replied icily.

"How'd you know where I got this?" Mindy snapped.

"Your tag was hanging out," Josef lied, not wanting to call attention to his "super vampire senses". "Target-brand clothing tends to have rather large tags."

"You're a materialistic jerk," Mindy snarled. She appeared to be masking her hurt by expressing anger. "Sorry that my plebeian social status is stinking up the VIP room."

"Chill out," Josef snorted. "I didn't _really _mean it."

"Whatever," Mindy muttered.

"Hey, why don't you sit down?" Josef motioned for her to come with one hand and patted the area on the couch next to him with his other hand.

"I'm fine standing," Mindy said defiantly.

But Josef wasn't going to stand for that behavior any longer. He was thirsty. And he was getting thirstier by the second as Mindy's intense heartbeat taunted him. The pulsations of her veins rang loud and clear in Josef's ears.

Though the delicious noise of her throbbing heart was torturing him, Josef was very grateful for her strident heartbeat. It was the reason why he was able to guess her name. Every time he said the right letter, her heart would give an extra loud thump. It was really a blessing in disguise…but it was far too alluring for her own good. The better the blood and the louder the pulse, the harder it was to control oneself. It was hard not to take too much…not to suck them dry.

"I said…" Josef's voice got deeper as he gazed intently in her eyes. "_Come. Here_." He motioned for her again.

This time, she started to get a dazed look on her face, falling under Josef's hypnotic spell as she slowly made her way over to him.

"Sit," Josef commanded her, not breaking eye contact with Mindy. He kept his hazel eyes fixed upon her light green ones. "Sit _now."_

Mindy docilely obeyed, her expression still blank.

"I usually like to do this the easy, fun way," Josef explained to a very vacant-looking Mindy. "A little seduction…a little partying…then I end it with a little drink." Josef took her right arm and brushed his lips up against the velvety soft flesh that was just begging to be pierced. "But…you're probably the most obnoxious little bitch I've ever met, so…I won't beat around the bush."

Mindy's lips began moving wordlessly as her eyelashes fluttered.

"Let's just hope you don't remember this," Josef said. Suddenly, his handsome, clear face began to change. His skin began furrowing into angry creases and his hazel eyes became bloodshot as he opened his mouth, his pearly, straight teeth transforming into fangs. Finally he could have his drink.

His fangs sank into the fair flesh of her arm, bursting through the first layer of skin and reaching their destination…the blood.

Her metallic, delicious AB negative blood gushed into his mouth like hot, melted butter as he clamped his lips over the puncture wounds and began taking in the crimson liquid.

It was better than he expected…which was amazing since he had his expectations very high. It was richer and creamier than he had anticipated, it was hotter at sweeter than he had imagined. It was so delectable that it clouded his senses. The taste filled his mouth, the scent filled his nose, the sound of her quickening heart filled his ears, and he had no sight…his eyes were closed as he relished the moment.

"Josef! What are you doing?"

Josef felt himself being pulled away from his "meal" by two hands. The scent of the person pulling him back was undoubtedly his fellow vampire friend, Mick St. John.

As soon as Josef's teeth emerged from her arm, Mindy let out a soft whimper as her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fainted away on the couch.

"Were you going to drain her?!" Mick had on a stern, accusing voice as confronted Josef, who was wiping the blood away from his mouth, glaring at Mick.

"No," Josef huffed, looking down at Mindy with an angry glare. "But I was pretty tempted to…"

"Josef!" Mick admonished, narrowing his eyes.

"She's a pain in the ass!" Josef defended himself, holding up his hands as Mick gave him his patented "skeptic gaze". "I'm serious!"

"Well, pain in the ass or not, you still don't drain," Mick chastised. "I can deal with you taking a little…"

"What are you, my mother?" Josef carped. "I'm a big boy…I can control myself."

"Sure you _can_," Mick crossed his arms and looked at him pointedly. "You just choose not to." Mick gave an annoyed sigh as he started to examine Mindy's bleeding arm…and her two puncture wounds that were suspiciously "vampire-like". "We're going to need to patch this up…cover it with gauze and band-aids. Hopefully she won't take them off and see this. Even if she doesn't have a wild imagination, it'll still get her suspicious…"

"Exactly the reason why we should get rid of her," Josef pointed out, a devious smile playing on his lips. "Then she won't go blabbing to people…"

"You disgust me," Mick huffed, rolling his eyes.

"As _you_ disgust _me_," Josef retorted, trying not to smile as he teased his friend. "With your goody-goody vegan ways and how you cherish mortal life…"

"Would you shut up and tell me where the first aid kit is?" Mick was aiming for a harsh, demanding voice, but instead it was coming out in its usual gentle, enigmatic tone. Mick had trouble staying angry with Josef.

"Do we have to?" Josef whined. "She's really a little…"

"What did she do to you anyways?" Mick asked curiously.

"Long story," Josef looked up at the ceiling. "Oh…and she reviled my music."

"If you hate her so much, why is she in your apartment?" Mick raised his eyebrows.

"Good blood," Josef confessed. "And the first aid kit is in that drawer over there. I don't really use it much…"

Mick chuckled softly at their inside joke as he went to the drawer and took out a large, white first aid kit and brought it over to set it on the coffee table.

"Josef?" Mick studied Mindy's elbows and knees. "You did this too?"

"Nah…she fell," Josef began lightly fingering one of her knee wounds.

Mick slapped Josef's hand away. "Stop that…it'll get infected."

"So?"

"You're revolting," Mick rolled his eyes, putting iodine on a cotton ball and cleaning out all her wounds. As he reached for the puncture wounds that were dripping blood, Josef reached out his hand to have a taste.

"No!" Mick barked. "You've taken enough…more than you're supposed to."

"Mick…" Josef looked at his friend with pleading eyes.

"No," Mick began gently putting band aids on her knees and elbows.

"You've got to give up and become a real vampire one day, Mick," Josef said matter-of-factly. "The way you get so attached to mortals…or fall in love with them…Beth, for example…"

"Leave Beth out of this," Mick groaned, starting on wrapping up Mindy's arm. Josef knew that Mick's strong romantic feelings for a mortal beauty named Beth Turner were his soft spots...well…the _softer_ parts of Mick. In Josef's opinion, Mick was the epitome of the Snuggle Bear.

"I'm just saying…" Josef propped his feet up on the coffee table. "That you value humans more than you value the importance of keeping _our kind_ a secret. It's a bad thing. You need to straighten your priorities."

"Josef," Mick heaved a sigh. "Go be helpful and get some juice for her when she wakes up. She'll need hydration and probably some natural sugars…"

Josef muttered nasty curses under his breath, but reached into the cooler (which still was open on the coffee table) and pulled out a can of grape juice, popping open the metal tab and placing it on the table.

"There. Happy?" Josef leaned back on the couch again.

"Is that the only juice you have in there?" Mick peered into the cooler. "Because I think…"

Josef took the remote and pressed a button, making the cooler lid slam shut.

"You're such a jerk sometimes," Mick grumbled.

"So I've been told," Josef grinned.

A loud moan emitted from Mindy as she began to stir. "Where…?" Her eyes flicked open. "Huh?" She started to sit up, but Mick gently held her down.

"Don't get up so fast," Mick advised. "You'll get dizzy."

"Who are you?" Mindy questioned slowly. "And what…?" Mindy paused as everything flooded back to her. Her eyes darted around the room until they fixed themselves upon Josef. Her eyes became angry slits. "You!"

"I was actually starting to like you while you were unconscious." Josef said icily. "You were so quiet and not _quite _as bitchy."

"I…" Mindy started. But before she could continue, her face screwed up in pain as she clutched her arm. "Holy hell…oww…oww!" Mindy bit her lower lip, trying to hold back a whimper. "What did you do to me?"

"Well, after you fainted…Josef didn't tell me how or why," Mick began his story. "But he called me and I came over. He was really worried about you…" Mick gave Josef a smirk. "Weren't you?"

"Oh yeah," Josef rolled his eyes. "Big time,"

"So, when I checked you over, I saw some nasty punctures in your arm," Mick explained. "When you fell, your arm landed on two nails that were sticking up in the floor. Luckily, your arteries are all fine, but some veins were damaged…"

"That's why it hurts?" Mindy asked.

Mick nodded in response, reaching over to the first aid kit and taking out a pill bottle. He opened the bottle and dumped four pills in one hand and took the canned grape juice in his other hand. "Here," He held out the pills to her. "Take these and you'll feel better in no time,"

"Thanks," Mindy smiled, taking the pills and popping them in her mouth, washing them down with grape juice. "I really appreciate this,"

"No problem," Mick nodded. A disapproving snort was heard from Josef. "Would you be quiet?"

"Didn't say anything," Josef picked at his fingernails, pretending to be "out of it".

"So…are you his doctor or something?" Mindy asked Mick, putting down the can.

"No…we're just friends," Mick told her. "You'll want to drink all of that," Mick motioned to the grape juice. "You lost a bit of blood and you need some sugar."

"Friends?" Mindy raised her eyebrows, taking the grape juice. "How did someone like you get mixed up with someone like him?"

"Long story," Mick chortled. His eyes looked mysterious as they stared off into space. "Not pretty,"

"I'll bet," Mindy giggled.

"You shut up!" Josef spat. "I can hardly tolerate you when your mouth is closed! But when it's open…"

"Hi, I'm Mick St. John," Mick said a little too loudly while holding out his hand to Mindy, trying to make peace by changing the subject.

"Mindy Porter," Mindy smiled gently, shaking his hand.

"Wait a minute!" Josef stood up. "_I_ ask you for your name…and you give me nothing. But when _he_ merely _introduces _himself, you give him a handshake and a _full _name."

"Because I have a certain charm about me that you could never compete with, Josef," Mick said coolly.

"_I'm_ the one that usually has about five women over every night," Josef hissed. "You're the one who's been following one girl around for about twenty years."

"Really?" Mindy looked up at Mick. "That's sweet."

""Stupid" is the more appropriate adjective." Josef scoffed. "I'd _never _fall in love with a hu-…" Mick gave him a warning look. "I mean…I'd never fall in love with any girl."

"So you settle for boys," Mindy quipped.

"I hate you," Josef grumbled.

"Right back at you," Mindy replied, taking another sip of grape juice. "I just hate you more."


	4. Fights, Flights, and Bites

"So, Min…you want to do something special tonight?"

Mindy suddenly snapped out of her daze. She had been falling in and out of full consciousness ever since her apparent fainting spell the previous night. Her boyfriend, Raymond, noticed this aloofness as soon as he picked her up from Josef's apartment and he'd decided to spend the night with her, and take her to church the next morning. He even took her out to lunch with the hope of her returning to her usual, lively self.

But he failed miserably. Mindy remained distant, detached, and downright tired looking. Raymond wondered vaguely if her strange behavior had anything to do with those sketchy guys, Mick and Josef.

Okay…maybe they weren't that sketchy since they helped Mindy out…but they were both handsome and smooth. Enough so to make any good boyfriend considerably jealous.

"Ray…" Mindy moved over and habitually kissed his cheek. "I'm not feeling that great, honestly."

Raymond's cerulean blue eyes shimmered with concern as he put the back of his hand on Mindy's forehead. "It doesn't feel like there's a fever. Tell me what hurts."

"You worry too much," Mindy chuckled weakly. "I just didn't get much sleep last night. I was having…" Mindy trailed off.

"You were having what, honey?" Raymond enfolded her in his golden-tanned arms and sat her gently down on the couch with him.

"Just silly nightmares,"

"Were they really silly if they kept you up all night?" Raymond brushed back a lock of Mindy's light brown hair that was getting into her eyes. "Tell me all about it."

Mindy sighed. "They were just about vampires…one vampire in particular. I couldn't see his face, though I could feel him biting into my arm and sucking out my blood…"

"Eww…" Raymond made a face.

"It felt so real," Mindy shuddered. "I could even feel the pain. Super creepy."

"No wonder it kept you up all night," Raymond nodded in agreement. "So is that all?"

"What do you mean?"

"You just…" Raymond sucked in some air. "…haven't been yourself."

"Well…"

"Was it something I did?"

"No!" Mindy kissed him reassuringly. "Why in the world would you think that?"

A silence pursued. A stiff, tense one that wasn't broken until Raymond spoke again,

"We…agreed that we'd always tell each other the truth, right?" Raymond nervously ran a hand through his silky, chocolate brown hair.

"Yes," Mindy nodded. "We did."

"Well…may I tell you the truth now?" Raymond bit his lip.

"Please,"

"I'm jealous as hell,"

"What?!" Mindy let out a laugh, the most genuine laugh she'd let out all day. "Jealous of what?"

"That Josef guy and that Mick guy," Raymond muttered, slightly annoyed that Mindy had been laughing at him. "They're both so…"

"Look, Ray," Mindy gazed up at her fairly handsome boyfriend. "Mick is the only one you'd even have to slightly worry about since he's decent…"

"Pardon?!" Raymond was very taken aback

"I'll tell you now that I have absolutely _no_ romantic feelings towards anyone else but you," Mindy told him. "That includes Mick St. John and Orlando Bloom."

Though Mindy hoped Raymond would laugh, he didn't. Instead, he stared at her with sincere, slightly hurt eyes. "What about Josef?"

Much to Raymond's astonishment, Mindy began cackling loudly. She was almost rolling on the floor with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Raymond stood up from the couch, offended.

"You…said…" Mindy tried to speak between laughs. "You said…that…Josef…" Mindy was having hysterics and could no longer talk.

After a few minutes of her guffawing, Raymond said,

"Are you quite finished now?"

"Yeah…" Mindy panted, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Care to let me in on the joke?" Raymond asked sternly.

"It's just…" Mindy had a wide grin on her face. "…the thought of _me_ ever falling for anyone else but you…"

"Stop sugar-coating it," Raymond rolled his eyes.

"Okay…" Mindy took a deep breath. "Let's get one thing straight. Josef Kostan is an arrogant, affected jerk. Now, seriously, Ray…would I fall for someone like that?"

"Maybe," Raymond looked at his feet. "When I picked you up there, he looked really loaded…"

"You think money is what matters to me?" Mindy crossed her arms at looked at him pointedly. "I thought you knew me better than that."

"I thought I did too," Raymond said softly. "But I guess last night and today showed me how you are when you get "tired". It's unbearable how distant and cold you've been. I mean, I always thought you were a vivacious girl who was always the life of the party…"

"Everyone has bad days, Raymond," Mindy snapped. She was ashamed as soon as it slipped from her mouth, though. She hadn't meant for it to come out so nastily.

"Every boyfriend has a right to be jealous," Raymond retorted.

"What the hell do you have to be jealous about?" Mindy had reached the point of exasperation.

"Why do you have to get so defensive when I say I'm jealous?" Raymond flung an inquiry right back at her. "Huh? Are you going to tell me?"

"Look…" Mindy tried to control her temper. "If you don't think I'm devoted to you…that means you don't trust me…"

"I don't," Raymond said defiantly. "Not anymore."

"Well…" Mindy replied matter-of-factly. "Maybe you should just leave, then. I don't want a boyfriend who accuses me of infidelity."

"Well, I don't want a girlfriend who lies!" Raymond spat.

"I never lied about anything." Mindy snarled, temper flaring again.

"_How did this turn so nasty?" _Mindy thought to herself.

"Maybe you did, maybe you didn't," Raymond huffed. "But your defensiveness is very suspicious."

"Fine then!" Mindy shouted. "Just leave!"

"My pleasure!" Raymond yelled back, storming out of Mindy's apartment.

…

The cold midnight air nipped at Raymond's flesh as he trudged through the streets of L.A, trying to flag down a taxi. But this proved to be difficult since there were very few cars coming by in the dead of night...least of all taxis.

"Hey!" Raymond shouted, waving his arms as a scarce, green taxi whizzed by. "Taxi!" The taxi went straight by him. "JERK!"

Raymond was angry as hell. He'd lost his girlfriend, it was cold, he was tired, and he couldn't get a taxi.

"DAMN IT!" Raymond kicked a stray beer bottle lying on the ground.

"Aren't we in a good mood today?" a voice came from behind him.

"What?!" Raymond whipped around to see a man in a long, black cloak. His face was concealed from view. "Who are you?"

"No one in particular," the man walked up closer to him. "Just like you will be…but only for a little while."

"What…do you mean?" Raymond backed up slowly.

"Do you want to be immortal?" the man hissed.

"Er…if it were possible…I guess," Raymond shrugged, thoroughly creeped out. "But…I don't really believe in that stuff."

"Better start now," the man chuckled wickedly, grabbing Raymond roughly by the collar of his shirt and throwing him down. The man reared his head back and opened his jaws wide, revealing pointed, yellowish fangs.

Raymond let out a terrified shout, but was immediately silenced by sharp teeth burying themselves into his neck. He lost all consciousness and went numb…numb from the pain.


	5. Fire and Buzzwire

**A.N. Hey people…sorry for the short last chapter.**** I will make it up. Also…I know some of you have been commenting on Josef's behavior as being a little too nasty (as in mean) instead of just pompous. And I understand…this is indeed a character flaw I have made and I'm glad many of you have brought that to my attention. I mean…I knew what I was doing, but I didn't think anyone would notice.**

**He will be a little less "malicious" when we see him again because his appetite has been appeased. (I know I'm a big jerk when I'm hungry…) and so I wanted the readers to assume he hadn't fed on blood for a while, making him less tolerant.**

**Sorry about this whole long thing, people. I just wanted to make this clear. Also…my mom erased the "Sleeping Beauty" episode so I didn't get to watch it twice and one of my darling readers pointed out that his last name was said to be "Kostan". I changed all the "Konstantin's" in the previous chapters and if any of you want to correct this, please tell me…I'd love to know. But I have one question…where did the Konstantin come from? I'm kind of confused. Remember****, people****…I've only seen each episode of Moonlight once or twice. ;) **

**Okay…enough of my rambling. On with the story!**

…

"Doreen, you're going to have to give it up. For you, your husband, and your children."

"But I can't. It's the only thing I live for. When Gerald's off at work and the kids are at school…I get so bored that I just _have _to go shopping."

It had been a very dull Monday at work for Mindy. It was just as awful as usual in the two-story building called the Jonas Debt Counseling Center. Especially since". she had a debt-counseling session with one of her most difficult clients, Doreen Norton…a woman who was in tremendous debt due to her frequent shopping expeditions in which she splurged like the devil.

Mindy was trying to be attentive and understanding, but it was hard to be since she was feeling sorrier for herself than for her patients. The breakup with Raymond had been hard. She cried in her pillow all night and tried to reach him on his cell about twenty times. He still hadn't called back…an ominous sign that screamed it was officially over between them.

"Your husband has completely lost trust in you," Mindy said stiffly. "You said that he told you he didn't feel comfortable leaving you home by yourself. He's afraid you'll keep spending…"

"He simply cares about me," Doreen sniffed.

"That may be true, but he still doesn't trust you." Mindy wrote down Doreen's response on her clipboard, pushing up her black reading glasses. "You need to regain…"

"So what if he doesn't trust me?!" Doreen snapped.

"Trust is essential for the survival of any relationship," Mindy hissed, blinking back tears. "Do you want to lose your husband, Mrs. Norton? Because that's what'll happen if you keep this up. Believe me…that's why I'm single now. That's why…" Mindy looked down at her feet as a tear dripped on the lens of her reading glasses and slid down the rim to plop to the floor. She couldn't believe that after this session, when she'd have a lunch break, Raymond wouldn't be waiting outside the room holding a paper bag containing her favorite California rolls. He wouldn't be there to greet her with a hug and a kiss. He wouldn't ask to sit with her during her lunch break. He wouldn't be there. He was gone. Raymond was gone and she'd never see him again. Why was this happening to her? Why did he have to get so jealous? Didn't he know how much he meant to her?

Doreen's expression softened as she looked at the hurting Mindy. "Are you sure that _you're _not the one that needs to be in therapy, honey?" Doreen took out a tissue from her purse and handed it to Mindy.

"Thanks," Mindy took off her reading glasses and dabbed her eyes with the tissue. "And this is "debt-counseling" not therapy." Mindy noisily blew her nose.

"Sure," Doreen chuckled. "Whatever."

"I'm sorry about this," Mindy apologized. "I'm getting carried away,"

"No you're not," Doreen shook her head in disagreement. "When did this happen, anyways?"

"Yesterday,"

"Ouch,"

"Yeah," Mindy sighed. "I know. But it…it was just my boyfriend, I guess. And…maybe I can get him back. All I need to do is let him know how much I care about him. I mean, there are worse things that could've happened…"

"FIRE!!!"

Several earsplitting screams rang out through the hall outside Mindy's door.

"What happened?!" Doreen asked fearfully.

"I'm sure…it's fine," Mindy leapt up from her chair and opened the door leading out to the hallway. She looked to the left…the hall was clear. When she looked to the right…

"SOMEONE HELP!"

One of Mindy's fellow coworkers, Laura, was screaming and sobbing in the corner of the left hall.

Mindy ran up to Laura's side. "What happened, Laura?"

"Th-There…" Laura stammered. "…w-w-was a…m-man…wearing a…bl-black…cloak. And…he…"

"He _what?!"_Mindy grabbed Laura by the shoulders and shook her. "Out with it!"

"He's been…starting fires…and killing people before they can call for help..."

"What?" Mindy went pale and her insides turned very cold. This couldn't be possible. How could an arsonist "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Laura snapped hysterically. "He's destroyed all the fire alarms on the first floor and he's burned every fucking office down there!"

"You…can't be serious…" Mindy was too baffled to be sympathetic or alert.

"I'M SERIOUS!" Laura screamed, yanking Mindy towards the stairwell. "Look down!"

Mindy peered down and at first saw nothing. But, just as she was about to say "I don't see anything", thick, black smoke began coiling up the stairwell.

"Oh my…" Mindy bit her lip, trying to be brave and not burst into tears. She _had_ to be the strong one. She _had_ to be the pillar of strength. If she didn't step up to the plate and figure something out soon…

"BAM!"

A huge explosion was heard downstairs and debris flew up from the stairwell. One landed by Mindy's foot. It was a charred chunk of wood that faintly resembled someone's desk.

"Oh, God," Mindy squeaked, turning around to face Laura. "Laura…we need to…" Mindy realized she was talking to nothing. "Laura?"

_"BOOM!"_

Another blast was heard from downstairs and this time, Mindy felt the floor tremble beneath her feet. Was this man using _bombs_?

Mindy wanted to break down into hysterics...to scream and cry out all her fears. But what good would that do? The thing she needed to do was hold herself together and take action. That's what she told her patients almost every day. Couldn't she do the same for herself?

Mindy sighed and took out her cell phone, rapidly dialing 911. She pressed the phone to her ear and impatiently waited.

_"Hello, you've reached L.A emergency hotlines…"_

"I'm at the Jonas Debt Counseling center," Mindy said shakily. "There's been an intruder who's set…the whole first floor on fire. I don't know…but I think he's been kill-…"

The cell phone was slapped out of her hand and it clattered to the floor. Someone roughly grabbed Mindy from behind, placing a hand on her throat.

"You're the one I've been looking for," a deep, male voice hissed in her ear.

"Wh-what?" Mindy whimpered. A terrified tear rolled down her cheek. She was in the arms of the arsonist and the murderer. A sick, nasty feeling told her so. And…the velvety black cloak that rippled by her ankles.

"May I?" the person behind her lifted up her hand and placed it palm-down, putting a knife on the back of her hand. "Just in case you escape…which I doubt. But you can never be too careful…"

"Please…" Mindy began to beg. But before she could finish, excruciating pain hit the top of her hand as the knife sliced back and forth, weaving in and out of her tender flesh. Blood was spurting everywhere, making Mindy scream like she never had before in her life. It was like he was _carving _something into her skin. It was sheer agony.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" the person threw her to the floor as he laughed evilly. "Goodbye!"

_"Tick…Tick…Tick…"_

The man had disappeared…as if he vanished out of thin air, leaving a blazing ring of fire in front of Mindy.

As the flames licked against her flesh, Mindy began to sob hysterically, nursing her hand and screaming with anguish.

_"Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick…"_

Mindy glanced upwards to see a small object with a blinking light and a small timer on it that read "0:38". Mindy wondered vaguely what it was.

"Oh…my…" Finally it hit her. It was a _bomb_!

Just before Mindy let out a bloodcurdling scream, she was scooped up into someone's arms.

"Wh-…?" Mindy said dizzily.

"Shh…" was the only response she heard as the person picking her up unlatched the window and jumped out with Mindy in their arms.

Mindy's hair flew up in the wind as she and the person plummeted down. Mindy didn't even scream. All she did was press her head against her rescuer's chest, holding back tears, and smelling a faint, but familiar lemony scent with a touch of iris and musk. The aroma was of Millesime Imperial, a very pricey men's cologne that Mindy's grandfather used to wear. She remembered how much she loved the smell when she'd hug her grandpa. It was one of her favorite scents in the whole world and she hadn't smelled it for about ten years. Ten years ago was when her grandfather passed away.

Mindy marveled if she had died and was being taken to heaven by her beloved grandfather. But then…why would they be falling down?

Mindy felt herself being laid down onto the cool, pavement of a sidewalk as a faint explosion echoed in her ears. Or…was it really that faint? Maybe _she _was the one who was faint...

…

"She's alive,"

"The only one, I think,"

"We might need a stretcher…"

"Are there any more survivors?"

"Doesn't look like it…"

"I want a donut…"

"Shut up, Donny. We can get donuts later."

"If she's alive…why isn't she moving?"

"Could we interview her when…?"

"Wait…she's waking up!"

Mindy's eyelids slowly started to lift up. At first, all she saw was soft, moving blurs. "Where…?" Her eyes slid into focus as she saw a whole host of people crowding around her, making a circle. Some looked like police officers, some looked like firefighters, some looked like doctors, and others looked like normal people. Some even were holding video cameras.

"Hey?" A blonde police officer with a small mustache knelt down beside her. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I…" Mindy's voice was raspy. "I feel kind of dizzy…but…" Mindy began studying herself. "I'm alive."

"Were you the one that called?" another police officer asked.

"Y-Yeah," Mindy nodded shakily. "B-But…what happened to everyone else? Laura Grady? Janet Freeman? Owen Hyman? My client was there too…Doreen Norton. Did the people on the…?"

"I'm afraid you're the only one," the blonde police officer said cautiously. "But…I mean…there could be hope…"

"_Could_ be?" Mindy's voice was returning, coming back with a venom coating. "Where are the damn firefighters?! Why didn't they save anyone?!"

"Miss, calm down," the blonde police officer put a hand on her shoulder. "Everyone's been doing all we can do. Except for, since you're the only witness we have…we don't know a lot about what happened…"

"There was a man in a black cloak setting off bombs!" Mindy snapped, trying not to cry. "He burned down the whole first floor and my friend…L-Laura…" a tear fell. "She said she saw him kill someone before setting their office on fire. He might've had flamethrowers…and I knew he had bombs…he put one beside me after he did this!" Mindy held up the bleeding back of her hand.

"Wait…what?!" the blonde police officer looked at her again. "Repeat it slowly…"

"A FREAKIN' MAN CAME IN AND STARTED KILLING PEOPLE, BLOWING UP THINGS, AND SETTING THINGS ON FIRE!" Mindy roared.

"Is she delirious?" someone in the crowd remarked.

"Who could blame her? After what she's been through…"

"This man in the black cloak," the blonde police officer kept his voice calm. "Did you get a good look at him?"

"No…" Mindy was breaking down in tears again. "But…when he grabbed me…I saw his hand. He was white…"

"Caucasian?"

"Yes," Mindy studied the strange marking on her hand. It was searing with pain. "But really pale."

"Anything else?"

"He seemed really tall," Mindy said. "Like…unusually tall. I felt his chest up against the back of my head…and I'm about…maybe…5'10…"

"Okay…" the blonde police officer took out a notebook and began scribbling on it with a pen. "Can you tell me any more?"

"Well…" Mindy wanted to mention his almost vanishing in thin air, but she didn't think the police officer would believe her. "There was just…just…something _off _about him…"

"Off?" A female voice rang out.

"Oh, God…" the blonde police officer groaned. "How'd Buzzwire get here?"

A stunning blonde young woman with an attractive business top and skirt stepped out of the crowd with a cameraman following behind her. Mindy noticed she was holding a microphone.

"Miss Turner, please just cover the story in general," the blonde police officer snapped.

"I've done that already," the blonde woman said with a smile on lips. "I just wondered if we could get a short interview with her,"

"Turner…"

"I don't mind that much," Mindy piped up. "It'd be good to get some publicity out. I want this guy to be caught." Mindy stood up, wobbling to get her balance.

"Are you sure?" the woman asked her kindly. "If you're not up to it, I guess…"

"I'll be fine…but thanks for your concern," Mindy winced, pushing down her sleeves.

"Okay," the woman smiled.

_"Damn…she's too pretty to even be __**allowed**__." _Mindy thought to herself, looking down at her own rather battered, messed up appearance and her dull, brown hair that she'd always wanted to be blonde.

"Follow me," the woman motioned for her to come out of the crowd. "How about…right here?" the woman pointed to a under one the skimpy trees placed in a row on the side of the path. The cameraman stood in front of them and counted,

"We're on in 5…4…3…" then he began to move his fingers to "2" and "1", then mouthed, "Go!"

"Hello," the blonde woman held the microphone under her chin, protecting her loud, articulating voice. "I'm Beth Turner from Buzzwire and I'm at the scene of the traumatic, Jonas Debt Counseling building fire where there was only one survivor…as I said in my last report. And here we are today with that one survivor…" Beth turned to Mindy. "What's your name?"

"Mindy…Porter," Mindy bit her lip. She'd forgotten about how nervous she got around cameras.

"So, Mindy Porter…can you tell us about the man who apparently caused this catastrophe? Beth held out the microphone.

"He…he was…t-tall…" Mindy gulped. "And…wearing a black cloak…"

"A black cloak?" Beth quirked an eyebrow. "I heard you saying to one of the police officers that there was something _off _about him. Care to elaborate?"

"N-No…n-not really," Mindy was trembling. Cameras really scared her…honestly. She hated how they just "stared" with their stupid little lenses and…

"So…" Beth seemed to have slightly lost her thunder due to Mindy's shyness. "We all want to know…how did you manage to escape."

Mindy gulped again. Another thing that would make her sound crazy. "Er…I don't think you'd…b-believe me if I told."

"Hmm…" Beth looked as if she were pondering something before she turned back to the camera. "Tune in next time on Buzzwire!"

"What?!" her camera man looked confused. "Why…?"

"Not now…" Beth motioned for him to leave. And he did, grudgingly.

"I'm sorry," Mindy looked at Beth apologetically. "I don't like cameras."

"Look…" Beth said, trying to look Mindy in the eye, which was slightly difficult since Beth was several inches shorter than she. "I think that…maybe…I might know what's going on."

"Miss Turner…" Mindy started.

"Beth," Beth corrected.

"Beth," Mindy sighed. "I don't want to be taken to an insane asylum. I'm in my right mind…I think. But…what happened up there…"

"Was really weird," Beth finished for her. "I figured that." Beth pulled out a fancy "phoneish" kind of thing that Mindy had never seen in her life.

"Whoa…" Mindy whistled. "That looks like something out of Star Trek or something."

"Erm…" Beth was finding a name on the gadget and placing it to her ear. "Okay…"

"Who are you calling?" Mindy asked.

"Hey, Mick?" Beth was already talking to someone. "I think there might be a case involving a _you__-know what_…yeah…okay…great…yeah…Jonas Debt Counseling building…great…bye." Beth put the phone…thing… back in a leather purse she was carrying.

"Huh?" was all Mindy could come out with.

"I'm just getting someone who'll believe you…and be able to do something about it," Beth said.

"Oh…okay…" Mindy clasped her hands together nervously.

"Wait…" Beth came over and took Mindy's injured hand. "What the hell is that?!"

**A.N. Twisted ****Ingenue**** promises funnier chapters to follow this one. And…possibly our two favorite vamp boys will make an appearance again. ;)**


	6. Death loses in overtime

"I can't say I've seen anything like it," Mick remarked, studying the back of Mindy's hand.

Beth, Mick, and Mindy were all in Mick's apartment. Mick and Beth had been able to save Mindy from brutal, ceaseless questionings by saying that Mick was going to get some information out of her himself. Mindy "refused" to talk to anyone else (Beth's idea) so the officials were forced to let Mick handle it. Besides, they trusted Mick St. John since he'd done so much for them when it came down to the bizarre cases.

Mick had closed all the blinds since it was about one o' clock, after lunch, and the sun was blazing high in the sky. Mick informed Mindy that he had strange eye-retina problem that made him extremely sensitive to sunlight. Since Mindy was not an optometrist, it made sense to her, so she believed him wholeheartedly. He and Beth also told Mindy that they worked with the slightly "paranormal seeming" cases, so Mindy didn't find any of his questions strange since she fell for his story. More to the point, though, why _not _trust Mick St. John? There was just something so reliable and stoic about him that it helped Mindy relax and keep her balance, even though she'd lost all her coworkers, she'd lost a client, she'd almost been killed, and she wanted Raymond with her more than anything…though Raymond still wouldn't call her back.

"What did he say before he did this to you?" Mick asked Mindy, gently tracing the scars on the back of her hand.

The nasty cut the weird person had carved into the back of her hand turned out to be a design of some sort. The design looked like two curved tusks that touched together at the sharp looking tip. At that touching point, there were two curvy, parallel lines coming down and stopping right before her wrist.

"It…" Mindy bit her abused lower lip. She'd been nibbling on it a lot due to anxiety.

"Take your time," Mick said with his gentle, reassuring voice.

"He said something about "Just in case" or something…like…if I didn't die there…that'd be his second option." Mindy crossed her arms, looking down. "As if I didn't have enough cuts and scrapes on me."

Mick laughed friendlily. "You're lucky it's almost wintertime. You can wear long sleeves and long pants…"

"And now you can wear gloves," Beth chuckled, moving a little closer to Mick on the large couch. "So…you two knew each other before?"

"Yeah," Mindy nodded. "I ran into…his friend…_Josef…_" Mindy scowled. "And I got hurt and Mick came to help out. He gave me some band aids and pain medication."

"Oh," Beth frowned slightly. "That's nice,"

"And I think…" Mick turned to Beth, a smirk on his face. "Mindy and Josef hit it off really well."

Mindy mumbled something that sounded rather like "snobby bastard".

"Speaking of Josef," Beth put on a businesslike face. "Do you think _he_ might know something about that thing?" Beth pointed to Mindy's scar.

"I've been thinking about that too," Mick confessed. "I mean, he's…"

"Been around a long time and knows his stuff," Beth finished for him.

"Yes, Beth, very good," Mick smirked in his sly, enigmatic way. "You're now capable of finishing my sentences."

"Wait…_Beth_Beth_?!" _Mindy's eyes widened as realization dawned on her. "Is this the same Beth we were talking about at Josef's place?"

"No…" Mick flushed vividly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"But Josef said you were in love with this one girl, Beth, and you'd been…"

"Oh, God," Mick groaned. "Can we _please_ drop it?"

"But…" Mindy started.

"So…are you sure you don't know what this scar is, Mick?" Beth changed the subject, pretending that she hadn't heard the conversation. Though her pink cheeks gave her away.

"Yes," Mick nodded slowly. "I've never seen it before."

"Don't think that I'm not going to bug you mercilessly about this." Mindy chortled.

"Please?" Mick looked at Mindy with beseeching eyes. "Not now, alright?"

"Oh," Mindy cursed her nosy nature. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Mick smiled, returning to his unflappable stance. "Now…back to the scar thing. Yes…I've decided we probably need to see Josef."

"Wait a minute here," Mindy held up her hands, wincing as her cut rubbed up against her shirt. It was still a little tender. "The _Josef Kostan_Josef?"

"Yeah, who else?" Mick shrugged.

"Nuh-uh," Mindy shook her head. "Not gonna happen."

"What if…?" Mick started.

"Anything but Josef," Mindy crossed her arms.

"But he may be your only chance of…" Mick looked exasperated as Mindy cut him off again.

"You know what? I think this whole thing is crap, anyways." Mindy said callously.

"What?!" Beth looked shocked.

"Look…do you both really think this is something _paranormal _or something?" Mindy looked at Beth and Mick pointedly. "Sure…I'll admit that at first I was kind of thinking that this black-cloaked guy was supernatural or something. But honestly, I may have been a little delirious. You know, in all probability, this guy's probably burned to a crisp by now and I probably am going to be completely…"

"So tell me," Beth's voice was slightly cold. "How did you escape?"

Mindy froze for a second, thinking of something sensible to say.

"Don't have an answer do you?" Beth was trying to keep her face indifferent, but it was hard to deal with Mindy's blatant misgivings.

"I don't want to talk about it," Mindy whispered. "I imagined it…that's all."

"Oh, really?" Mick quirked an eyebrow. "I'd love to hear about these…figments of your imaginings…"

"Someone saved me," Mindy looked away. "I was by a blazing fire, next to a bomb that had about forty seconds left, and someone…someone just appeared. This person…he…or she…I'm not sure…picked me up. I asked them who they were, but they only shushed me and jumped out of the second story window. The only characteristic I could remember is that…well…I _think _it might've been a he…was wearing something that smelled an awful lot like the men's cologne my grandfather used to wear, Millesime Imperial by Creed…"

"I've heard of that," Beth nodded. "That's a really expensive brand…it's about two-hundred something per bottle. It was designed for a King, I believe. Creed colognes and perfumes are products for the elite…"

"Is this real life or a Jeopardy game show?" Mick chuckled. "Anyways…we're veering off-topic," Mick looked at Mindy with his stoic and lenient gaze. "And, Mindy…it's okay if you think this isn't anything mystical or what-not…I mean, I understand where you're coming from with this. I don't actually believe in the supernatural or magic. But what I do believe in is people who _think_ they are some kind of paranormal beings who can perform rituals with human sacrifices and terrible customs like that. There are sick people out there and I think we're dealing with one…"

"But why me, though?" Mindy asked tearfully, no longer being a skeptic. Mick's kind, unwavering gaze and gentle, but firm words were enough to make anyone humble themselves and have faith without any reservations.

"I don't know," Mick said honestly. "That's why we want to ask Josef,"

"Are you sure there's not anyone else?" Mindy looked at Mick with pleading eyes. She knew she was already "pushing it" by even associating with Mick if she ever wanted any hope of getting back with Raymond. But going to Josef too? She could pretty much kiss Raymond goodbye. There was also the matter of Josef being a conceited, overbearing asshoie.

"No…I'm not sure," Mick said. "But I don't know of anyone who knows more about these kinds of things than Josef does…within driving distance, I guess."

"But…"

"What if this symbol is…some kind of a killing sign?"Mick laid out this circumstance for Mindy. "The guy that gave it to you? Suppose he has a gang…of about a hundred people that just go around in disguise. Well…what if all of them have been ordered to kill anyone who has that sign on their hand? Huh? That doesn't take magic or psychic abilities."

Mindy paled, thinking it over. So if she didn't go with them to see Josef, to have her marking examined, she could risk dying…or worse. Mindy had to weigh her options. Josef or death. Josef or death. Josef or death. Man, what a hard decision!

"What'll it be?" Mick inquired.

"Josef," Mindy grumbled. "Josef won over death…barely."

…

"Josef!" Mick shouted for about the hundredth time, banging on the door of Josef's apartment. "Josef, I know you can hear me!"

"Maybe he's at his house, now," Beth suggested.

"He has a house too?" Mindy wrinkled her nose.

"Yeah," Mick paused, ceasing his heavy knocking for a few moments. "With a pool, a hot tub, fancy TV…"

"That's just disgusting," Mindy almost gagged. "Why doesn't he just give his money to the poor or something?"

"Because he spends it on himself," Mick said bluntly, proceeding with his knocking. "Josef! Josef, it's important!" Mick groaned after no response. "Josef!"

"I'M COMING, GODDAMN IT!" was heard in the distance, behind the door.

"And the grizzly bear awakens from its long winter of sleep," Beth giggled slightly.

"I HEARD THAT!" Josef shouted back.

"Who disturbs my slumber?" Mick said in a ridiculously deep voice, quoting the Cave of Wonders from _Aladdin._

"Wait…why is he sleeping at this hour?" Mindy asked quizzically.

"_Whoops!" _Mick thought to himself. "Josef's kind of a night owl…must I say any more?"

"No," Mindy sniffed with distaste. "I see, now."

"Is he primping in there or something?" Beth asked Mick.

"Probably," Mick smirked. "He likes being _dapper_for his guests."

The door flew open to reveal Josef dressed in sharp, black slacks and a long-sleeved, royal purple, button-down shirt. He also looked mildly pissed.

"Mick," he said coolly. "It's not that I don't like company…it's just…well…"

"We need some help,"

"Don't you always?" Josef smiled slightly, until his senses began to sharpen and he smelled something. AB negative blood. His head snapped towards Mindy. "What are you doing here?"

"I missed you," Mindy rolled her eyes. "And I just _had_ to pay you a little visit."

"Mick!" Josef hissed. "Can I…?" Josef then realized that he had forgotten to greet Beth. So, not liking to be rude…especially to a woman as strikingly gorgeous as Beth, Josef ran a hand through his hair and shot Beth a dazzling smile. "Beth…it's lovely to see you today. How are you?"

"Fine," Beth nodded. "Thank you."

"Will you excuse us for a second?" Josef nodded and grabbed Mick by the arm, pulling him inside the apartment. Once Josef thought they were out of earshot, he resumed talking,

"Are you crazy?"

"What?" Mick quirked an eyebrow. "Oh, come on, Josef. You can't seriously be worried about Mindy finding out!"

"Too much human interaction equals _bad news_," Josef's hazel eyes flashed.

"Oh, and you don't interact with humans?"

"For feeding and one-night stands," Josef corrected. "Nothing more."

"You're paranoid," Mick told him. "And I've been feeding her lots of…lies."

"Why are you bothering with her anyways?" Josef retorted.

"Did you hear about the Jonas building fire?" Mick questioned.

Josef went a little pale as his eyes became shifty. "I saw it today. You know my bank is right across from it and I was making a withdrawal a little before lunch."

"Why didn't you just wait until the sun went down?" Mick looked at his friend quizzically, getting suspicious.

"I needed to renew my credit card and I wanted to buy something on eBay." Josef shrugged.

"But you said you went to make a withdrawal," Mick's eyes gleamed.

"I did that too while I was there," Josef nodded. "And I saw the smoke afterwards…"

"You know Mindy works…_worked..._there, right?"

"Really?" Josef studied his fingernails. "You know…I think I need one of those "manly manicures" or something…"

"Josef," Mick's tone was accusatory. "What are you hiding?"

"So, what's the point of this? Why did you bring Mindy here?" Josef asked. "She's already been bitten by me and I usually don't like to see my…sources…again…I mean…there's something strange about the "used" freshies that I don't like. It seems like they can just sense you somehow…"

Mick sighed. He'd find out what Josef was lying about later. "That's stupid,"

"How would you know?" Josef snorted. "All you have now is revolting, refrigerated stuff."

"Look," Mick sighed. "Could you just look at something for us? Please?"

Josef groaned. "Fine, fine…I guess being popular does have its drawbacks."


	7. Discoveries and Scrabble

**A.N. A special shout out to all my reviewers! Especially Sweet Little Nightmares with her nice, long reviews!**

…

"Ow! Stop touching it so hard, pompous head!" Mindy wrenched her "marked" hand away from Josef's grasp.

"We'll, if you'd stop twitching around like a hyperactive three-year old, maybe I could get a look at it." Josef snapped, taking her wrist and pulling up her hand closer to his eye level.

"Ugh," Mindy shuddered. "I hate him touching me,"

"Are you "shuddering" from romantic arousal?" Beth teased. Both she and Mick were watching the two with interest, occasionally brushing their hips together.

"I'd advise you to quit talking," Mindy grumbled.

"I wish you'd take your own advice," Josef said wistfully, still scrutinizing the wound. "Permanently."

"Do you recognize it?" Mick asked hopefully.

"Hmm…" Josef's eyebrows furrowed. "Actually…it looks like a…" Josef shook his head, releasing Mindy's hand. "No…it couldn't be."

"What?" Beth and Mick said at the same time.

"It looks a like…I can't be sure…but…"

"Josef, spit it out," Mick urged.

"The Lotikaa Hunae mark," Josef stated.

"Which is…?" Mindy huffed impatiently.

"I haven't seen it in…" Josef paused. "Years."

"Go on," Beth nodded.

"The Lotikaa Hunae are a group of…supposed vamps…"

"Vampires?" Mindy snorted. "Come off it! There's no such thing as vampires!"

"You're right," Josef agreed, almost too eagerly. "But this group…"

"Thinks they are," Mick finished for him.

"I see," Mindy nodded. "Okay…keep going, Monsieur Encyclopedia."

Josef scowled at the nickname, but kept going. "Well...it's a very ancient race of "vampires" who have their own set of rules and rituals. Each of them has this symbol on both of their palms. It's very faint and even people with super-senses have to been touching the person's skin for the mark to be visible."

"How do you mean?" Beth inquired.

"Well, you have to be touching the Lotikaa Hunae member to be able to see the marking." Josef explained. "Otherwise it's invisible."

"Am I a member now or something?" Mindy asked quietly.

"No," Josef shook his head. "You have to be…well…there are just…_certain requirements_." Josef coughed. "For one…you have to be male."

"Okay, so you have any idea why they marked her?" Mick questioned.

"Well…" Josef leaned back on his couch, putting his hands behind his head. "Usually they mark their victims."

"V-Victims?" Mindy's eyes widened with fear. "You…you…c-can't mean…"

"Yep," Josef nodded. "You're vamp-chow."

"Josef!" Beth snapped, standing up. "How can you talk like that?"

"Because I could care less," Josef chuckled. "The world's getting overpopulated, anyways."

"You're _so_ considerate," Mick gave Josef a nasty look.

"But…why me?" Mindy's face was almost chalk white and she looked as if she were on the verge of vomiting.

"Beats me," Josef let out a yawn. "I guess you're just tasty,"

"Josef," Mick started. "If these Lotikaa Hunae people are willing to blow up things in public…what if they end up killing and…draining lots of different people and leave the bodies around everywhere." Mick had chosen his words carefully, so as to not make Mindy suspicious, but he had to hint to something to make Josef pay attention. And if Josef thought there might be any risk of _their kind_ being discovered, you can bet he'll want to put a stop to it.

"Well…" Josef tried to keep his cool, but had lost his footing.

"So…are they going to suck my blood out?" Mindy asked almost inaudibly. She was scared. Beyond scared.

"No," Mick said firmly. "They won't. We're all going to do everything we can to keep you safe…and bring these people to justice."

"So…are you going to be my bodyguards or something?" Mindy asked, trying to force a grin.

"If you want, we can," Mick smiled then turned to Josef. "Do you know anyone who's a member of the Lotikaa Hunae?"

"I did," Josef nodded. "But he's dead…passed away of a heart attack or something." Josef gave Mick a look that said, "_I killed him," _

"Oh," Mick bit his lip. "Does…membership…of the Lotikaa Hunae group often run in the family?"

"Actually," Josef rubbed his clean-shaven chin. "They do. It's very common for a father to bring their son into the group..."

"Does this guy have a son?" Mick questioned.

"I'm not really sure," Josef replied.

"What's the guy's name?" Beth asked, pulling out her laptop and sitting back down on the couch.

"He went by Wayne Ploiteryne," Josef said, mouthing to Mick, _"I killed him in 1832,"_

"Beth, let me help," Mick leaned in next to Beth and whispered something in her ear.

"Oh," Beth nodded, understanding. "That shakes this up a little,"

"What?" Mindy was puzzled. Were they hiding something from her? "What's wrong? May I help?"

"We've got it covered," Beth smiled.

"May I watch?" Mindy went over to glance over at the laptop, but Josef grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Why don't we entertain ourselves why they work?" Josef kept his oily tone, but was practically trembling inside from the thought of anyone finding out about their vampirism. If she saw that this guy was killed in 1832, what would she do? Would she get suspicious and call the officials? Would she form a mob of people with torches, silver pitchforks, and stakes?

"So we'll be goofing off while they get something done?" Mindy spat, trying to break free from Josef's grip.

"Mindy," Mick looked up from the laptop and gazed at Mindy with his gentle eyes. "You really need to rest…take it easy for a while. Get your mind off of things. You've been through a lot, and I don't think you'll be very helpful to us when you have a nervous meltdown."

"Okay," Mindy sighed.

"Thank you," Josef kept behind her, taking both of her arms and leading her through a futuristic looking kitchen.

"I can walk by myself, you know."

"Well, you don't move fast enough," was Josef's snarky reply as he brought her into a smallish, forest green room with a pool table, a shelf full of games, a fancy television, and an expensive-looking white stereo.

Josef let go of Mindy and walked over to the stereo, pulling out a CD from a large rack.

"You even think about it and I'll kill you," Mindy snarled.

"Whatever," Josef rolled his eyes, putting the CD back on the rack. "No point in sharing good music with someone who's too thick to appreciate it." Josef plopped down at a square, light green table that looked as if it'd been carved out of jade.

Mindy awkwardly wandered over to the table and sat down across from him in a green, leather chair. They both stayed silent for several minutes, pretending to be ignoring each other and acting bored.

"Well?" Mindy broke the silence.

"Well what?" Josef propped his elbows up on the table. "You want to share your life story?"

"Not particularly," Mindy sniffed.

"Neither do I," Josef smirked. "We have something in common,"

"Uh-huh," Mindy let out a yawn.

"Okay…" Josef sighed, rolling his eyes back in annoyance. "Should we…do something?"

"Yep," Mindy clicked her tongue against her teeth.

"Like?" Josef pursed his lips.

"You a cat person or a dog person?" Mindy asked.

"Umm…" Josef looked like he was in deep thought. "Dogs are sickeningly loyal…and cats are so self-centered…"

"A cat person, then?" Mindy snickered.

"Neither," Josef replied. "I guess I'm a fish person. Fish are quiet, easy to care for, and you can just flush them when they die. No hassle."

"Sorry I asked," Mindy groaned.

"Sorry for telling the truth," Josef huffed. "I don't really like pets. They irritate me…"

"Fine…whatever," Mindy looked away from him and began scoping the room. "Damn…why do you have so many board games? Do you have a kid?"

"No," Josef shook his head. "I don't like kids. They ask too many stupid questions and they think that everything obnoxious they do is _cute_. And they _never _shut up and they're so loud but God didn't make them with a freaking off-switch! And _babies__…_don't get me started…"

"I won't then," Mindy murmured. "I get your point. You hate anything that's cute, fuzzy, little, sweet, or lovable. You're such a sensitive, nice guy…"

"Shut up," Josef scowled. "I'm just…"

Mindy let out a loud gasp, cutting Josef off. "Oh! You have Scrabble?!"

"Yes," Josef's scowl had transformed into an irritatingly arrogant smirk. "But I wouldn't suggest challenging me. I mean…don't you at least want to play a game where you might actually have a chance to beat me?"

Mindy went over to the board game shelf and pulled out the maroon Scrabble box. She placed it on the jade table, letting out a satisfied breath.

"Do you think it's wise to challenge _me_ to Scrabble?" Josef put his hands together, letting his fingers interlace as he looked up at Mindy with his gleaming, hazel eyes. "I'm a professional." Actually, Josef had been playing Scrabble ever since 1948. He'd acquired many Scrabble skills over the years and was not someone you'd want to play if you were a beginner.

"So am I," Mindy plopped down on the chair across from him, opening the lid of the box. "You could call me a Scrabble veteran."

"Look, Mindy," Josef laughed. "I don't know if I should play you…I mean…I'm really afraid of…"

"Me beating you?" Mindy finished.

"Not a chance, darling." Josef snickered. "Not a chance."

"Then why won't you play me?" Mindy took out the game board and unfolded in on the table.

"Look…" Josef sighed. "You just don't seem like a girl who can be patient with this game. You see…while you make slow, well thought out moves…mine will be quick and just as good…maybe even better."

"You're bluffing," Mindy tossed a wooden letter holder at Josef and he caught it with grace.

"Alright then," Josef smiled, pulling out the other letter holder and handing it to her. "We'll play."

"I'll keep score," Mindy took out a little notepad that had scores from a previous game on it. She ripped the first page off, starting with a clean sheet. She took out a pen and wrote "M" and "J" on each side. "Okay…"

"Now we decide who goes first," Josef took the velvet bag containing block letters out of the box and gave it a shake. "Whoever gets the letter closest to A gets to go first." Josef held the bag open out for her. "Go ahead."

Mindy defiantly reached into the bag and pulled out a little wooden block. It was an L. "Your turn,"

Josef casually dipped his hand into the pouch and pulled out a letter. He looked at it and frowned. "U,"

"Ha!" Mindy laughed triumphantly. "I get to go first."

"It's your only victory, love…you can count on that," Josef grumbled.

Both Josef and Mindy got their seven letters apiece set out on the little wooden stands…ready to play.

"Go ahead," Josef motioned at the board. "I'm anxious to see you put out the word "As" or "It"."

"Shut up," Mindy snapped, looking at her letters. She had I, E, D, Y, L, B, and I laid out in a neat little row. What would she do? What would give her the most…?"

" Aha!" Mindy took the D, the Y, and the E, placing them vertically on the board with the Y on the pink starred square…which was worth a double word score…spelling the word "DYE".

"Fourteen," Josef muttered the score, before she could do the math. "A decent start…I suppose."

"Thank you," Mindy took three more letters out of the bag. "Your turn now."

Josef almost immediately had his answer, adding the word "RAIN" to her Y and forming "RAINY". His R had been on a double letter score, making his score a nine.

"I'm winning,"

"Not for long," Josef leered. "I'm just warming up. I like having my competitor ahead for the first turn."

"Whatever," Mindy snorted.

"It's your turn, lazy," Josef yawned.

Mindy had turned RAINY into BRAINY almost instantly, earning her twelve points.

"Still ahead," Mindy said in a sing-song voice.

Then, Josef made "JOBS", earning him fifteen points.

"And now I'm gaining on you," Josef chuckled. "Enjoy your victory now. It won't last for long."

Mindy scowled and made "DIED", gaining seven points.

"Is that what just happened to your game?"Josef sniggered. "It died?"

"I hate you," Mindy snarled.

Josef made "JIBE" getting g him another fifteen points.

"Give up?" he asked, grinning wickedly.

"Never," Mindy growled.

The game was intense. Even more intense than the national Scrabble championship. The letters and words spread out on the board like forming spider webs and Josef's moves became slower and slower. Josef's brow was furrowed in deep concentration and his tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth. Mindy was good, he had to admit. But he was better. He _had _to be better. Extol

"231 to 219," Mindy announced, brushing a bead of sweat from her temple. "You're ahead."

"I figured," Josef said cockily. "Ah…I know what to do with this…" Josef put down an E, an X, a T, and an O, using the L from Mindy's word "LETHARGY", spelling EXTOL.

"A triple letter word score," Josef grinned, pointing at the X, which was worth eight. "So…that's sixteen…seventeen…eighteen…nineteen…"

"Twenty," Mindy groaned. "251 to 219."

"You want to give up before I beat you too badly?" Josef questioned mockingly.

"I…" Mindy looked down at her letters and her eyes widened. Her lips curved upwards in a delighted smirk. "Hmm…"

"What?" Josef sat up, alert. "What do you…?"

Mindy took out five letters…one of which was a Z…the killer letter.

"Oh hell, no…"

Using the E in Josef's EXTOL she made the word "ZEBRA" where the Z landed right on a red "Triple Word Score".

"Zebra?!" Josef's face flushed crimson and his hazel eyes widened in horror. "How'd you…? How come…? What the…?"

"Thirty two points," Mindy gloated. "Which makes me tied to you! 251 to 251!"

"Woo Hoo!"

Josef and Mindy whipped around to see Beth and Mick standing at the doorway, applauding.

"Go get em', Mindy!" Beth cheered, laughing like crazy.

"I didn't know you played Scrabble, Josef!" Mick hooted with laughter, leaning on Beth so he would start rolling on the floor. "Do you also do spelling bees?"

"Shut up!" Josef snapped, ears turning maraschino cherry red.

"I thought you only played cards and pool…things you can gamble with," Mick told him, still chuckling.

"Actually," Josef took a deep breath, calming himself and returning to his lackadaisical stance. "I'm an unbeatable Scrabble player."

"Not for long," Mick pointed at the score paper. "Looks like you're tied…and it's almost the end of the game. There are no more blocks left in the bag and you all have a limited amount of letters…"

"This is where the extreme tension starts," Beth remarked. "If I only had a video camera…this would be a great news story…"

"I'm trying to concentrate," Josef said with clenched teeth. "Either leave or do the research you're supposed to be doing…or watch and keep your traps shut."

Beth and Mick sat down on a loveseat, smiling at each other and watching Josef intently as he made his next move.

Josef had broken a sweat and was incredibly nervous. His hands were trembling as he looked at the board and he looked at his letters. He only had two letters left. Q and U. If he didn't find somewhere to put that Q and U, he'd have eleven points subtracted from his score. But no matter how hard he scanned the board, he couldn't find one good word to accompany his Q and U. Would he have to give up? But how could he possibly face the embarrassment of a loss in front of Mick _and _Beth. Not to mention having to deal with Mindy's smugness if she won.

"Is he going to finish this before I have to move to a retirement home? Mindy yawned.

"Shut up," Josef spat. "I'm having a hard…" Josef trailed off. He saw something. How in the world could his super vampire eyesight not have seen it?! Two open spaces above his own word "AIL".

"Yes!" Josef slapped the Q and the U in the two squares above the AIL, forming QUAIL. The U happened to be on a triple word score as well.

"Wh-What?" Mindy looked blankly at the board for a second.

"Dearest? Could you put down the number _forty-two _under my score, please?" Josef was grinning like a Cheshire cat as he leaned back in his chair.

"Lucky prick," Mindy grumbled, writing down his score. "293 to 251."

"Any last words, darling?" Josef laughed triumphantly. "No pun intended, I swear..."

"Well…" Mindy said softly. "I do have _one_ last word." Mindy took out the lonely little block that sat on her stand and she placed it right under QUAIL. The letter was a blank block, the blocks that you can make into any letter you want. It's very useful though it isn't worth any points.

"S," Mindy hissed. She had just formed the word QUAILS.

Josef became numb for a second. The whole room was immersed in a deathly silence until Mindy whispered,

"Forty-two"

**…**

**A.N. Hey…sorry if some of you didn't understand the Scrabble rules and you may have been like "Huh?"…and for any Scrabble fanatics (like me), you may have discovered there are some flaws. I know about them, but I don't care. Oh…and make sure to **_**tune**_** in next time. (HINT HINT)**


	8. It's a girl thing

**A.N. Sorry for the delay…I was just spending time with my family on Christmas and spreading Christmas cheer. Is that a crime? No? No. ****I didn't think so.**** AND...I'm officially 15 now! December 28****th**** was my birthday! Wee!**

**I'm sorry to people I didn't reply to (cough) Sweet Little Nightmares (cough). I'm awfully sorry about that.**

**Also…I'm grateful for all my reviewers. You all are so kind. I also thank the people who gave me construction criticisms. I really appreciate them because all my sweet reviewers are really good at giving it. You always explain my strong points and you point out my weak points. It's very helpful and nice. So much better than flames. I mean…of course I prefer fervent exaltation of my brilliance and the people who are in awe of my amazing skills and they gush over them…(cough)…sorry. I'll let you get on to the story, now. **

**WAIT! **_**One**_** more thing…I promise this is the last thing. Okay…a lot of you said (I'm **_**not **_**holding anything against you people) something in your reviews or PM's about Josef's "loss" in Scrabble. I want to point out that it was a tie game. 293 to 293. I'm horrible at math too so I bet a lot of you didn't add up. I mean…I made it a tie because I thought it was unrealistic for Mindy to win against a vampire as experienced as Josef. But they could tie…if Mindy got extremely luc****ky (which she did by having a blank letter word**

**Okay…**_**NOW**_** I'll let you read.**

…

"Oh yeah! Nice going, Mindy!" Beth gave Mindy a congratulatory pat on the shoulder. Though, the poor blonde reporter had to stand on her tiptoes to reach Mindy's shoulder since Mindy was so tall, but Beth did it all the same. She was overjoyed from the sight of Mindy deflating a little of the air out of Josef Kostan's overblown, pompous head. It was as if the tie game was a metaphorical needle injecting itself in Josef's head, triggering a loud banging noise resembling the sound of a balloon popping.

"Thanks, Beth," Mindy said softly, pushing in the green leather chair under the table. Her face was still slightly vacant save her eyes which were widened in shock. She was numb from the surprise. She'd never in her wildest dreams _really_ thought she would tie with him in that way. He'd been so confident, he had been so much better at the game than she, and each one of his moves were phenomenal, though he treated them _so_ casually with the flick of his wrist and the flash of his eyes.

"Well…I guess you two have got to do rock/paper/scissors to determine who cleans up," Mick sniggered.

"I…" Josef attempted speech for about the umpteenth time…failing again. He was still slumped in the chair, gawking in astonishment at the Scrabble board. The letters were untouched since Mindy's last move and Josef was beginning to wonder why the surfaces of each little wooden block hadn't gathered dust yet.

"It's not like you lost, buddy," Mick clapped Josef on the shoulder.

"Didn't win either," Josef mumbled, shrugging Mick's hand off. The feeling had finally returned to his mouth, enabling it to move and form coherent words.

"What? Are you going to stomp off into a corner and sulk and pout?" Mick chuckled, the corners of his lips curved upwards with a manifestation of deviousness rarely seen on Mick St. John's mysterious visage. Generally there was a look of perpetual steadfastness and dedication etched into the handsome, dark features of his face.

But every once in awhile, traces of his cherished humanity would emerge from his sensible, cool exterior and Mick St. John would become the playful, gregarious human he once was. He'd occasionally transform into _himself_ again by cracking jokes, telling animated stories, playfully teasing, and executing out plans of possible pranks. Sure, Mick was skilled with dry humor and wit, but occasionally that would come out in a more playful manner. In a way, this made him the way he used to be. A comedic man who loves to sing and play music.

Though, in Josef's opinion, Mick let that side of himself show far too much…much more than any vampire should reveal. Josef's view of things was simple. Have one personality and stick with it…preferably one that isn't touchy-feely and/or sensitive. Additional personas were unnecessary rubbish that added too much _depth _into people and made them annoyingly complicated. As Josef has told Mick many times, "You _complex _people will always end up in therapy. It starts out as interesting depth, then depth turns into angst episodes, then angst turns into cutting, then cutting turns into anger…and before you know it, you're a suspect serial killer stuck with some sickeningly happy shrink slapping smiley-face stickers all over you."

Anyways, that humorous personality was revealing itself to everyone in the room as Mick's eyes gleamed with mockery, tormenting Josef with the loss. Well, though it technically was a tie, in Josef's viewpoint, Mindy had _annihilated_ him in a bloody, brutal war. And now he would have to confront the smarting pain of a disgraceful defeat.

"I'll clean up," Josef stood up, snatching the board and pouring the wooden pieces into the velvet bag. "I'm always very…_gracious in defeat_."

"You say that so sincerely," Mick rolled his eyes. "I especially like how your teeth are clenched while you speak."

"Good game, Kostan," Mindy nodded curtly in his direction, taking the Scrabble box from Josef's hands and put it up on top of the large game shelf.

"Well…I'm glad you enjoyed that wonderful bout of luck," Josef said with a slight hint of a snarl. "Very lucky. No skills involved in those last few moves at all."

"Oh, really?" Mindy went to Josef's side and looked him in the eye fiercely. "Why'd it take you so long to make "quail"? I'd been seeing that possible move ever since you made "ail"…"

"So you knew I had a Q and a U?" Josef sniffed. "You cheated, then?"

"I just saw that _possible_ move," Mindy retorted, poking Josef in the chest. "I thought, "Hey…if I had a Q and a U, I'd make "quail"…but gosh darn it, I don't have a Q or a U!""

"Whatever." Josef scoffed. "If you want to be a cheater _and _a liar, be my guest."

"You little..."

"We found something on Ploiteryne!" Beth practically yelled over them. "That's why we came in here in the first place."

Mindy and Josef immediately withdrew from their battle as their heads snapped in Beth and Mick's direction.

"What?" Josef and Mindy asked at the same time.

"Well…" Mick took a breath. Beth and Mick had found a Ploiteryne, but the grandson of Wayne. So as to not get Mindy suspicious, they decided to tell her that the man they found was Wayne's father. "We found…Wayne's…_father_…"

"Father?" Mindy looked up quizzically. "I thought we were looking for a son."

"We were," Beth stepped up. She was a much better liar. "But then…we found Wayne Ploiteryne's father. He's seventy-nine now…"

"Wait…how old was Wayne when you killed him?" Mindy questions. "And how old where you? When…?"

"Why don't you stop asking so many questions?" Josef snapped.

"But I…"

"What's the _father's _name?" Josef asked Mick and Beth.

"Kenneth Ploiteryne," Mick replied. "Lives right here in L.A."

"And he's the manager of a rather nice café with live performances." Beth explained.

"What's it called?" Mindy asked, getting desperate. She'd left all thoughts concerning the Scrabble game behind in the dust at that moment. Now was the time to figure out who the bastard was. In a way, she needed to avenge her lost friends and coworkers.

"_Ploiteryne's_," Mick replied with a chortle.

"I could've guessed _that_," Josef muttered. "What do they serve at this café, anyways? Human remains with a _bloody_ Mary beverage on the side? Who knows? Maybe the next patron who comes to dine there will find Mindy's head on a plate."

"Shut up, Kostan!" Mindy snapped. "I'm sick of dealing with your sarcastic, sadistic crap and I'm just not in the mood right now! I just want to find out who that damn arsonist, bomber, and murderer is, if you don't mind!" Mindy blinked back tears. Though the Scrabble game had been able to distract her for awhile, it couldn't make her forget what happened to her forever.

She was also struggling with guilt. Not just the painful "survivor's remorse" from being the only survivor of the catastrophic event, but the guilt of the way she was feeling. Instead of mourning over the dead, she was fearful for her life. Being a potential "vampire" victim was really some seriously scary shit, but Mindy still felt guilty for caring more about herself than others. She was being selfish and inconsiderate. Why wasn't she sobbing uncontrollably over Doreen, Laura, Jake, Harriet, Mike, Liz, Yvonne, Julia, Shelly, and numerous others? Why was she only afraid for herself? What about the families of people she knew? Or their friends? How would they feel? Did she want to think about _them_? No. She was pretty much only scared for her own well-being.

Mick and Beth gave Josef nasty glares. Both were appalled that Josef would be so insensitive. For Beth, it was a natural reaction. But for Mick, who'd been Josef's friend for years and was used to his jerkiness, it was a little rare for him to actually be _surprised _by anything that came from Josef's mouth. I guess Mick thought that even for Josef it was pretty low.

"Mindy," Beth turned to her. "I know it's hard."

"Nah," Mindy shook her head. "I was overreacting anyways. Don't worry about it."

"We made reservations tonight at eight so we can find him, shake his hand…or touch him in some way, and see if has the mark." Beth explained. "We researched the restaurant online and it's a kind of not exactly black-tie formal dress."

"Huh?" Mindy looked confused.

"When you go there, you wear fairly nice clothes…like…maybe something you'd wear to a fancy work conference or something." Beth explained.

"Er…" Mindy raised an eyebrow, looking down at her sooty, torn clothes. Her khaki dress pants even had bloodstains on them. She was in no condition to go to a nice restaurant. "Could I go home and change?"

"I wouldn't suggest it," Mick spoke up. "Your home is probably one of the most unsafe places you could possibly go."

"What?" Mindy paled. "So…if we don't find the guy tonight...I can't go home?"

"I'm afraid not," Mick shook his head. "We want you to be safe. I mean, for all we know, it could very well be fine for you to go home. But, since we're slightly in the dark about this whole situation, who knows? We need to go by the mantra of "better safe than sorry" if we want to protect you."

"Well…where am I supposed to go?" Mindy questioned.

"We'll decide that later," Mick responded with a stony gaze.

"But…"

"I agree with you, Mindy," Josef cut in with his rather unwelcome observation. "You're hardly fit to be seen _in_ a circus, least of all a nice restaurant." Josef gave Mick a look that clearly said "_I'm saving your ass from her irritating questions. You can thank me later."_

"You sure know how to charm a lady," Mindy scoffed, pretending not to care. Though, honestly, Mindy was a rather vain soul. Not vain as in thinking she was beautiful, but vain in the way of being overly concerned with her self-appearance. She thought of herself as rather plain and ordinary with very commonplace features. The thing she hated most about herself was her nose. It was horrid and long. In grade school, kids on the playground made fun of her for it by calling her "Pinocchio". Sadly, Mindy spent many recesses in the bathroom sobbing.

"Just telling the truth, dear," Josef brushed a piece of fuzz off of his sleeve, not making eye contact. "If we go into _Ploiteryne's _with you in this state, you're going to get some funny looks. Oh, and you'll be very recognizable as "that survivor of the fire"…if you get my drift. And that's the last thing we want."

"What size are you, Mindy?" Beth asked suddenly, putting a hand on Mindy's shoulder.

Mindy let out a half-laugh. "Bigger than you, I can bet."

"I doubt that," Beth gave her a soft smile. "Maybe a good deal taller…but that doesn't matter in a dress, does it really?"

"Beth?" Mick raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting…?"

"How about I take her to my apartment and we get ready together?" Beth stood up straight and gave Mick a sly smile. "I mean…unless you have some clothes for her to borrow…"

"Not too bad of an idea," Mick ran a hand through his dark, curly hair. "But we've got what…_three hours_?"

"Mick," Josef laughed. "You're so daft sometimes. They're _girls_. Girls take _forever _to get ready, remember?" Josef put a finger to the corner of his mouth, as if in thought. "Rather ironic, really. When all we want is what mother-nature gave them…"

"Josef!" Beth and Mick gave him a stern look.

"Whoops," Josef chortled. "Almost forgot myself. Never should talk like that when there's _a lady_ around."

"You mean _ladies_?" Mindy growled through gritted teeth.

"Oh, yes…" Josef smirked. "You're right. I forgot all about Mick."

…

_"Lord have mercy," _Beth thought to herself once Mindy was finally done with her shower. _"I'm going to have one monstrosity of a water bill."_

"Er…Beth?" Mindy called from the bathroom, yelling over the almost deafening roar of Beth's blow-dryer.

"Yes?" Beth hollered back. She was standing in front of her open closet door, her bare feet digging into the scratchy, vanilla colored carpet as her eyes scanned over the long line of clothing hanging on brass colored hangers.

"Exactly _how _do I turn this thing off?" Mindy was apparently distressed. Beth could hear that in Mindy's tone, even with the sound of the hairdryer.

"The little _dark _purple button!" Beth replied. "Not the light purple one! That one squirts out mousse!"

"Um…okay!" Mindy was obviously overwhelmed by Beth's strange thingamajig that she called a "hairdryer". In reality, it was a multipurpose, high-tech hair styling gadget with numerous little buttons that did everything from drying to dying hair.

To Mindy and Beth's relief, the irritating, sonorous whirr of the blow-dryer ceased and a _"whew" _was heard from the bathroom.

Beth went back to searching her closet. A voice in her head kept whispering,

_"What would Mick like?"_

Mick. Every time she thought of him, her stomach would flip and visions of his sweet, mysterious, beautiful smile would begin swirling around in her brain, making her lightheaded.

"I like that aqua one on you."

Beth jumped back in surprise as her little imaginary bubble surrounding her was popped by Mindy's voice.

"Sorry," Mindy frowned. She was wearing one of Beth's old terrycloth bathrobes and her light-brown hair was fluffy and silky-looking as it hung down by her shoulders. Beth had to admit, Mindy looked pretty like that. Her cheeks were rosy from the heat of the steamy shower and her skin was slightly dewy from the moisture. "I didn't mean to scare you,"

"Don't worry about it," Beth laughed. "I was just spacing out a little. I've been doing that a lot lately."

"Anything to do with _Mick_?" Mindy grinned.

"So…is this the dress you were talking about?" Beth flushed, pulling out a satin, aqua dress with straps that were about three fingers in width. A darker blue silk ribbon was sown across the waistline of it and it went down to Beth's knees as she held it up to herself.

"Yes," Mindy nodded with approval. "But you didn't answer my question…"

"I have a boyfriend." Beth explained shortly.

"Oh," Mindy looked down at her feet, putting her hand on a oak dresser. "What's his name?"

"Josh,"

"Is he cute?" Mindy was trying to make conversation. Beth had been nice enough to let her use her shower, her towels, her bathrobe, her hairdryer, and eventually, some clothes and makeup. The least she could do was offer her friendship.

"Yes…very," Beth sighed, looking at the dress again. "Good choice, Mindy. I've forgotten about this one. I haven't worn it in awhile."

"You can wear that shade of blue," Mindy smiled. "With that pretty, light complexion and your hair." Mindy lightly stroked Beth's almost surreal, flaxen hair. It was light and beautiful against her porcelain skin. "Not a great color on me."

Beth took some pantyhose out of the top drawer of her oak dresser. Once she took out what she needed, she had to give that drawer a good, hard shove for it to shut. She really needed Josh to help her fix that drawer. It'd been stubborn and been a pain to close for almost a month.

Beth took off her own bathrobe and pulled on the stretchy, translucent tights. Then, she picked up the dress which lay crumpled on the floor, and stepped into it, pulling the straps over her shoulders.

"Mindy? Could you zip this up?"

"Of course," Mindy went up behind Beth and found the zipper buried in the fabric. Once she got a hold of it, she pulled it up, successfully zipping up the dress. "There you are."

"Thanks," Beth turned around, smiling at Mindy. "Now…something for you…"

"I need long sleeves," Mindy shimmied out of her bathrobe until she was only in her underwear and showed her elbows to Beth. "And a dress that goes past the knees." Mindy gestured to the large, ugly scabs on her knees.

"Probably will need a long cocktail gown since you're so tall," Beth joked, beginning to sift through her closet.

Mindy peered over Beth's shoulder. "Anything yet?"

"Well…" Beth paused for a moment before pulling out another knee-length dress. Though, this one was rather different. It was bright red with long, tight sleeves and a swishy skirt. The fabric was velvety and the neckline was rather low, dipping into a V-line.

"Will it cover my knees?" Mindy looked at the dress skeptically.

"Here," Beth tossed Mindy some black pantyhose. "If the dress won't…these will."

"So..." Mindy was hopping around on one foot, trying to put on the pantyhose, knocking over a stack of papers in the process. "Is Josh cuter than Mick?"

"Er..." Beth bent down into her closet, reaching down into a little shelf with many rows of shoes. "I don't...know. Mick's..._attractive_...um...I guess. But...I won't say he's more attractive than my own boyfriend..."

"Alright...keep your secrets," Mindy ended up toppling over in her attempts to pull on the pantyhose. "Ow..."Mindy rubbed her side.

"A little klutzy, don't you think?" Beth chuckled, pulling Mindy to her feet.

"Sorry," Mindy finally pulled up the pantyhose until they stuck to her waist with a satisfying snap. "I don't wear tights a lot."

"I can see that," Beth smiled, trying to be polite. She thought Mindy's lack of modesty was rather queer. I mean, sure, Beth wasn't the most modest person ever. I mean, she changed (with her underwear on, of course) in front of Mindy with ease, but she was quick about it. Mindy, on the other hand, was standing there, making conversation with a person she'd met only several hours ago in nothing but her undergarments. Very odd indeed.

"They do cover them pretty well," Mindy looked down at her knees, just leisurely standing there. "But I can still feel those nasty scabs through the tights." Mindy reached down to rub her right knee. "I hope these awful things don't tear the fabric..."

"Don't worry, they were cheap," Beth assured her. "Anyways...since _you've _been asking so many questions...do I have to right to do the same?" Beth picked out a pair of very strappy, high heels that were a shiny, silvery-white shade and began putting them delicately on her feet as she sat on her large bed.

"Okay," Mindy nodded before putting the red velvet dress over her head and pushing her arms through the sleeves. "Shoot."

"Do _you _have a boyfriend?"

Mindy's head popped out of the dress, her face no longer possessing a happy grin. "I did."

"Did you break up?" Beth looked up from the complicated array of straps on her shoes to gaze at Mindy.

"I..." Mindy gulped. "Maybe..."

"Maybe?"

"Probably," Mindy bit her lip. "We got into a fight yesterday and he stormed off. We both were really angry. It was kind of an "it's over" fight, but I don't really want it to be over. I've been calling him over and over but he won't pick up." Mindy began chewing the fingernail on her right index finger. "I've left so many messages...but he won't call me back..."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Beth's face creased up into a concerned look. "I know that must be so hard...with everything you've been through. You think he would've called you back after this incident and all..."

"I know," Mindy's voice cracked. She was fighting back tears. She shouldn't cry. She _couldn't cry_. "I'd think that...oh...I don't know..."

"Go on," Beth urged softly.

"It just...just doesn't seem like Raymond," Mindy whispered, twirling a lock of her hair as her vision became blurred with tears. "He's so sweet and compassionate...it's just so...so...so"

"Uncharacteristic," Beth finished for her, reaching for her makeup bag on her wooden, rather wobbly, bed stand. She unzipped the dark purple, leather bag and took out a tube of a light, dusty rose shade of lipstick. She dexterously took off the silver cap, screwed the bottom of the tube, and skillfully applied the lipstick to her full, gorgeous lips.

"Yeah," A small tear began to make its way out of Mindy's eye, but she flicked it away hastily. "Maybe...Maybe he's hurt..."

"Don't talk like that," Beth stood up and walked over to Mindy, putting her arm around her shoulder. "He's probably just cooling down. Josh and I had the same problem once...I mean...I don't exactly..."

"He thought I was cheating on him," Mindy clenched her teeth suddenly, getting angry instead of forlorn. "With...Josef and Mick."

"Really?!" Beth was rather taken aback by this. "Did he have any evidence to support that?"

"Not a bit," Mindy shook her head, turning crimson with irritation."I mean, really! Josef?! Yuck!" Mindy mimed barfing. Quite mature of her. "Mick...I _might _be able to understand since he's such a decent guy..."

Beth gave a start. "You don't like him do you?!" Beth was almost getting defensive and territorial.

Mindy gave her a look with raised eyebrows. "No. Why are you so...?"Enlightenment flashed across her face in all its glory. "Oh! I see!" Mindy winked. "No need to be jealous. He's not exactly my type..."

"What is your type, then?" Beth asked, feeling the warmth she felt towards Mindy again...since she knew she wasn't after Mick.

"Raymond," Mindy replied blandly.

"Really," Beth laughed.

"Raymond _is_ my type," Mindy protested. "He's handsome, he's sweet, he's loyal..."

"He jumps to conclusions..." Beth joked.

"That too," Mindy giggled a little.

"But that shows he really likes you, though...doesn't it?" Beth beamed. "And he'll come around. I'm sure of it."

"Like you did with Josh, right?"

"Yes," Beth lied. "Of course..." Unfortunately, Josh and Beth both knew that Josh was still jealous of a certain handsome vampire/private detective. Who else? Mick St. John, of course! And Josh and Beth's relationship was on the rocks...or perhaps a large boulder precariously perched on the tip-top of Mt. Everest. All it takes is a gust of wind before it goes tumbling down.

"So..." Mindy took a deep breath. "Do you have any shoes that might fit me?"

**A.N. **_**Tune **_**in next time! This time...I mean it. **


	9. Shotgun!

**A.N. People...I must again apologize for the delay of the last chapter. I had it done a while ago, but my stupid parents won't get me Wi-Fi for my laptop...and it's a pain to find it. Also...I hope you all know that this story is filled with twist and turns (part of the reason why I'm called "Twisted Ingénue") and even if something seems clichéd at first...it's bound to change. Believe me. Like, a lot of you thought the beginning was "too fast" or something silly like that. The truth is**** it was the spark of a hate relationship that may or may not turn to love. Be less patient...****lol****. And I love all my sweet reviewers...and my newly found online-friend, Sweet Little Nightmares...who is awesome, by the way. And to all you awesome people who give me constructive criticism. Like...****if ****I didn't have enough description or something ;). Well...do you find the description satisfactory now? **

**Love,**

**Ingénue **

**P.S. Tell me if there's anything you like about the story (techniques you'd like me to keep) or anything I can change for you. I mean...I won't always take your suggestions (like if you told me to write in ****chatspeak**** or make the plot absurd like...making Josef magically turn into the Easter bunny...well...nah...never mind) Okay...I love you all! Even those who don't review (quite a lot of you it seems, due to the number of people who've added this story to their story alert lists. The ****number of story alerts are**** overwhelming compared to reviews) but...I'm fine and I'm glad you read. Apparently you have no criticisms. Yay!**

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"Mick? Did you _have_ to get the smallest, crummiest cab in L.A?" Josef whined loudly, though his voice was unheard by the gangly, middle-aged man in the driver's seat. Their cabdriver had two white ear buds jammed into his ears which were connected a black, beat-up Mp3 player. Due to Josef and Mick's supersensitive vampire hearing, they could tell the Italian-looking cabdriver was listening to something by Metallica. Well..._Mick _could tell it was Metallica. Josef, on the other hand, who had no idea what the definition of "good music" was, just thought the driver was listening to screaming nonsense.

"Could you just stop complaining for once?" Mick sniffed, stretching out his legs underneath the grey plastic glove-compartment. He'd called shotgun before Josef could get to it.

"Well how would _you _like to have absolutely no leg room?" Josef grumbled. His knees were propped up and digging into the back of Mick's seat. Josef was right. There was about enough leg space in the small cab for an ant...if the ant was small. "_I _could've gotten a limo." Josef gave the grey, cheap-cloth interior of the cab one last disapproving look before fixing his attention elsewhere. Which happened to be the windowpanes of the car which, to Josef's disgust, were thickly covered with grimy fingerprints, handprints, noseprints, and God-knows what other kinds of prints.

"Do you need a limo to go _everywhere?" _Mick chuckled. "Wait...I take that back. You don't _need _one since you could probably walk a thousand times faster..."

"Hush!" Josef kicked Mick's seat with his knees. "What if he heard you say that? Do you want him to find out about...?"

"Keep your pants on, Josef," Mick rolled his eyes. "Speaking of pants..." Mick smiled slyly. "XYZ."

"Damn ," Josef cursed, reaching down to the zipper of his black dress-pants and pulling it up speedily His face began to burn. "How the hell did that happen?" Josef was trying to mask his discomfiture by false fury. Though, of course Mick could see straight through him. Mick was infamous for "seeing through" people. Especially people who were named Josef Kostan or Beth Turner.

"It's just a wardrobe malfunction, Josef," Mick leaned back in his seat right on Josef's lap.

"Mick!" Josef hissed, giving Mick a hard slap on the forehead. "If you don't get off..." Mick pulled the seat back up, snickering to himself.

"Not funny," Josef gave Mick a dark look while straightening his red, silk tie.

Both vampires were dressed very sharply in pitch-black suits designed by a high-class Bulgarian designer named Viktor Fargradorre. Both suits were indistinguishable except for Josef had a red tie and Mick had a navy tie. _Yes_...of course Josef let Mick borrow a suit.

"Josef..." Mick tugged at the collar of the white satin shirt sewn on the underside the suit. "This is itchy. How do you wear this stuff?"

"I'm an aristocrat...unlike you." Josef grinned smugly, leaning back a little. He was glad to be getting back at Mick a little. "I know you're used to fig leaves or animal skins, but we're going in public and your simplistic, barbaric ways must be sacrificed for a little while. Until you get back to your mud hole, of course."

Mick coughed and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "snob".

"We're here!" the driver announced, much too loudly. That was a huge pet peeve of Josef's. When people would have their headphones in, volume up high, and talk with loud, obnoxious voices. How ignorant and inconsiderate can one get? In Josef's opinion, everyone should be conscious of how vociferous and irritating they sounded with headphones jammed into their ears.

Anyways, the cabdriver screeched to a halt in front of a modest, but decent, brick apartment building.

"Sir?" the cabdriver shouted, his voice coated with a thick, Italian inflection. "Are you going to get out or are your friends comin' out here?"

"Well..." Mick looked back at Josef and mouthed,

_"Do you think it'd be safer to take them to the car?"_

Josef shrugged in response, miming that he didn't really give a damn about Mindy's safety.

"Sir?" the cabdriver tapped Mick on the shoulder. "Are you...?"

"Yes," Mick cut him off, pulling the headphones out of the man's ears. "We're getting out." Mick grasped the grubby metal handle of the car door and pulled it, thrusting the door open with his foot. "C'mon, Josef. We're going to _escort _the ladies to their chauffeured coupé..." Mick opened the door for Josef, giving him a sly smirk. "...like _aristocrats_."

------------

Approximately a millisecond after Mick rapped his knuckles on the solid wood entrance of Beth's apartment, the confident, firm voice of Beth rang out,

"What's the password?"

You see, before Mindy left to go with Beth, Mick decided extra precautions should be set up in order to keep Mindy safe from whoever might be after her. One of them happened to be a code word. Before anyone could open the door to anyone, they had to ask for a password. And if whoever was at the door could not provide said password, the person could not be let in.

"Grape Skittle," Mick supplied the password with smooth efficiency, however Josef let out a snort,

"That's a stupid password,"

"Not a very straightforward one, though," Mick pointed out. "And I didn't select it."

In fact, "Grape Skittle" was Mindy's proposal for a password. It popped up very randomly in her head when a commercial for Skittles candy flashed across the television screen in Josef's apartment. So, she blurted out "grape skittle", her beloved flavor to be the password, and everyone obliged to it.

Josef tilted his head slightly to the side and raised his eyebrows. "It's obscure...I'll give her that much."

Before Mick could reply to Josef's remark, the lock was unbolted with a click and the door creaked open to reveal a stunningly bedecked Beth Turner. She glistened with splendor from head to toe with her light, golden hair swept up in an elegant bun and little teardrop crystals hanging down from her earlobes. The aqua, silk dress rippled beautifully like a slowly flowing stream.

"That's a very flattering...color...on you, Beth," Mick remarked, smiling. He couldn't admit that she looked absolutely beautiful and smelled sweetly of hyacinth perfume.

"Mick..." Beth's eyes widened as she situated the strap of her silver evening bag over her shoulder. "You look...great. I mean..."

"You've never seen me dressed up like this," Mick finished for her, flashing a grin. "I get it."

"Y-Yeah," Beth's cheeks flushed a light, rosy pink as she craned her neck backwards. "Mindy! It's them! Mick and Josef!" Beth stepped out of the doorway and moved to Mick's side, leaving room for Mindy to "emerge".

"I think I'll take the vampire," the voice of Mindy grumbled in the distance. "Instead of Kostan."

Beth, Mick, and Josef all exchanged an amused look of reciprocated understanding. Though the trio knew Mindy didn't have the faintest notion that Josef and Mick were vampires, her statement was still rather ironic and altogether laughable. It took every fiber of strength in their bodies to refrain from crumpling to the floor and cackling like hyenas.

"Come on, Mindy," Mick's voice was breathless from the exertion of suppressing snickers. "We don't want to be late."

"She ripped her pantyhose on a hook in the wall," Beth divulged with a slightly atypical giggle. "It was..."

"Classic," Josef completed Beth's sentence for her with his idea of the apposite adjective to follow the word "was". "What a shame. I wish I had been there to witness that." Josef smirked, a soupcon of mischief flickering in his clandestinely convoluted hazel eyes.

"You wish," Mick said brusquely on a seemingly offhanded note, though the smile playing on his lips gave him away.

"Mick," Josef's eyes narrowed. His tone was mellifluous, but it possessed a somewhat dangerous edge. "For the last time..." Josef inhaled sharply, giving Mick and Beth a portentous, slight ominous glare. "I'm not...I repeat..._I'm __**not**_interested in Min-..."

"Alright, I'm ready now."

Mick, Beth, and Josef turned around to see Mindy standing at the doorway.

Though it wouldn't be conspicuous to the mortal or remiss eyes, there was something quite divergent about Mindy's appearance. An aloof gracefulness...a reticent sort of elegance. I mean, yes, there were some obvious changes to her visible exterior. Her mocha colored hair was neat and glossy for once and it hung, loosely curled, to her shoulders. Beth's doing, of course. She couldn't resist the powerful urge to fix Mindy's hair. It was a girlish idiosyncrasy of hers. _Doing_ hair. Yes, Beth had performed the task with exuberance and skill, ending up with a polished finished product...curly, loose hair worn all the way down with the exception of a small French twist on the back of Mindy's head.

But the hair wasn't what made the difference. Neither was the tight-fitting red velvet dress or the black, high-heeled shoes. Nor was it the black pearl jewelry or the sequined, black clutch bag. No. It was probably just the way she held herself upwards. Back straight, chin high, balance steady, and eyes without any discoloration from redness or tears. The real distinctive feature about Mindy was this was the one time they all saw her without any perceptible weakness or distress. It was _just Mindy_. No strings attached.

"You look very nice, Mindy," Mick complimented her warmly after a few seconds of an apprehensive silence. Neither Mick nor Josef expected Mindy to come out looking so..._attractive. _Both vampires had anticipated Mindy to be dressed in something ill-fitting and awkward or, as Josef assumed, wobbling around, on the verge of toppling over due to too-high heels. But, startlingly, Mindy seemed quite well-balanced in the high heels strapped to her feet. Though, of course Mick, being slightly biased, thought Beth looked much prettier and more elegant, he had to admit Mindy looked very nice...exactly like he told her.

"Where's the rip?" Josef asked her nonchalantly, his critical eyes were taking in every inch of her, trying to find a flaw he could flagrantly point out to her.

"Josef!" Mick hissed with admonition. "Behave yourself!"

"Beth," Mindy moaned in exasperation. "You told them?"

"Sorry," Beth shrugged sheepishly. "It's a reporter thing."

"So...where is it?" Josef raised his eyebrows smugly, leaning up against the off-white plaster wall.

"Come on," Mick rolled his eyes, pulling Josef off the wall and moved past the doorway. "The cab's waiting."

"Wait," Beth pulled a small, slightly rusted silver painted key from her evening bag and made her way over to the door. "Need to lock the door." She pulled the door securely shut and stuck the key in the lock, turning it until there was a satisfying click.

"Ready?" Mick moved over to Beth and ever-so-gently placed his hand on her back, in between her shoulder blades.

"Yeah," Beth nodded as the two began walking down the hallway.

"C'mon, you two," Mick called back to Josef and Mindy. "Or I get shotgun again, Josef."

This peaked Josef's attention considerably. He definitely did _not _want to sit in the back again. So, with that motivation he took Mindy by the wrist and pulled her along with him.

Mindy yanked her wrist away from his grasp and moved defiantly in front of him. "Don't. Touch. Me." she growled back at him.

Josef narrowed his eyes and quickened his pace, stepping to the side of her and sauntering ahead. "Charming as ever, aren't we?" Mindy didn't reply and just kept her lips tightly pursed as she followed Mick and Beth down into a grey, stone-laden stairwell. "Ah...I see it now."

Mindy gripped the metal banister on the stairs and continued moving downwards, heels clicking against the stone steps. Heels against pavement. The sound Josef heard before he first met Mindy. The sound he heard before the resonance of her tempting, very revealing heartbeat. The heartbeat that caused Josef to hunt her down and to quench his desperate thirst.

"Well...aren't you going to ask me what it is I see?" Josef taunted her from behind.

"Do you think I care?" Mindy retorted as she almost enviously watched Beth and Mick talking friendlily to each other with obvious affection glistening in their eyes whilst they moved steadily down the stairs. Oh, how Mindy yearned to have romance again! Even though it'd only been a day, she missed Raymond fervently and longed for his touch. Anything that even resembled love reminded Mindy of Raymond and just gazing upon the pair who apparently had strong feelings for each other made Mindy's heart ache with painful memories and jealously.

"You should," Josef sneered, purposely ignoring the sharp, salty scent of tears that were welling up in Mindy's eyes. "The rip's right here," Josef bent down and put his finger on the back of Mindy's right calf which indeed had an uneven, shredded tear in the thin fabric of the black pantyhose. It was a rather obvious imperfection since the light skin of her leg was revealed and contrasted greatly against the black.

Mindy jumped at the touch of his cold finger brushing against her exposed flesh. At this, she lost her balance and slipped on the edge of the step.

Before she could even let out a scream, Josef grabbed her roughly under her arms and pulled her up to her feet.

"Could you be any bigger of a klutz, Barbie?" Josef groaned, irritated.

"Are you alright?!" Beth and Mick asked at the same time. Their tones were thickly coated with concern.

"Yes, Tweedledee and Tweedledum," Josef scoffed. "The inept, clumsy girl is just fine...thanks to the selfless, brave hero."

"What? Did Superman drop in and catch her, or something?" Beth laughed. "Because the only selfless, brave hero I see around here is Mick."

"And _I _didn't help her," Mick chortled. "Wait...you can't mean _you_ helped her, Josef?"

"You mean a different Josef, right?" Beth teased.

"Very funny," Josef made a face, dropping Mindy's arms as if they were hot potatoes. "Just didn't want to get her blood all over these lovely stairs," As he said that, his foot narrowly avoided stepping on a "dearly departed" cockroach.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, the headlights of the taxi flashed, making shadows dance across the pavement and on the walls.

"Shotgun," Mick chuckled wickedly and turned around to face Josef. "In the back, Kostan!" Then, Mick did something so uncharacteristic it made Josef's head spin. He stuck his tongue out at him.

"Grow up, Mick," Josef grumbled.

"Beth," Mick said in an undertone. "Take the front seat. I don't mind."

"No thank you," Beth smiled. "I'm fine in the back. Thanks for offering."

"_I _didn't want the front seat," Mick confessed, opening the backseat door for Beth. "I just wanted to make sure Josef didn't get it.

Beth laughed at this and crawled into the cramped cab.

"Get in, Mindy," Josef rolled his eyes, simply showing this gesture to be flaunt his illustriously cultured mannerisms.

"Fine then," Mindy curtsied before sliding inside next to Beth.

Josef peered inside before getting in to see that there was about four inches of space left for him to sit.

"Ridiculous," Josef grunted with irritation. "How am I supposed to fit in there?"

"Well, why don't _you _be the detective tonight, Sherlock?" Mick gave Josef a slap on the back before making his way to the front of the car, opening the door, and plopping down into the cushy passenger seat with spacious leg room.

"Scoot over more," Josef ordered Beth and Mindy.

"We're trying, retard!" Mindy snapped as Beth and she tried to make room for him. Beth was pretty much smashed against the car door like road kill on asphalt.

"What's the problem?" the cabdriver asked inattentively. He was once again plugged into the world of Metallica.

"We're going to be late," Mick glanced at his watch with a furrowed brow. He hastily looked up from it and turned to Mindy. "Mindy...slip out of the car and let Josef get in. Then..."

"Oh no..." Mindy finally got wind of what Mick was about to say. "You can't be serious!"

"We need to get there on time," Beth informed Mindy, anxiety gleaming in her eyes. "They won't make late reservations...it's their policy and it's a really popular..."

"Fine!" Mindy cried in exasperation, shimmying out of the car and shoving Josef in.

Once a rather pissed-off Josef situated himself beside Beth, Mindy stood outside of the car, staring numbly inside the car.

"Mindy, we need to go!" Beth urged. "Come on!"

Mindy squeezed her eyes shut as slowly made her way into the cab and into Josef's lap. She winced in displeasure as Josef pulled the door shut and the driver slammed on the accelerator. Mindy vaguely wondered that if she closed her eyes tightly enough she might be able to disappear and teleport to another planet. Yes, she was _that_ mortified by her situation. For Mindy, sitting in Josef Kostan's lap was pretty much the equivalent of burning Hell.

Mindy's head was brushing against the roof of the car and her heart was racing wildly. Why was she here? Why wasn't she going to _Ploiteryne's _with Raymond instead? Why couldn't Josef just die? It was so distressing to her that she began gnawing almost rapaciously on her thumbnail.

"Would you quit that?" Josef hissed, grabbing her hand and pulling it out of her mouth. "That's disgusting."

Mindy slapped his hand with as much force as she could muster. "What did I say about touching?!"

"Honestly, _dear_," Josef thickly coated the word "dear" with venom. "Right now, we're touching so much that if we were just naked...and if I weren't completely repulsed by you...we'd be having intercourse." Mindy stubbornly lifted up another finger to proceed in biting the nail, but Josef rapidly snatched her wrist before her fingernail even graced across her lips. "I don't think that merely "touching" your hand will make much of a difference."

"Touch?!" Mindy tried to free herself from Josef's clutches, but his grip was far to strong...unnaturally so. "_Seize _is the proper word, you filthy little..."

"Play nicely, kids" Mick chided them with a snicker. "Or no dessert after dinner."

"Shut up," Josef inhaled angrily and deeply, regretting that action as soon as he performed it. For once, Josef began to resent his super vampire senses. Already, the sound of Mindy's heartbeat was nearly deafening and the heat radiating off of her body was sweltering. But once he inhaled through his nasal passages, the sweet, dulcet tones of her Dior perfume filled his nose, making him feel lightheaded, and were almost strong enough to mask the scent of her AB negative blood. _Almost _strong enough.

But oddly enough, her blood no longer enticed him. In fact, it was downright repelling. The delicious, spicy notes of her AB negative blood had been somewhat tainted ever since the taste of it had been washed out of his mouth by an irresistible blonde O positive freshie...two hours subsequent to the time when Mindy left his place after their first encounter.

Though Josef was sure that he was still partial to the taste of AB negative, he was positive that he had lost his penchant for _Mindy's _blood specifically. There was now something about it that was too piquant...too strong...overwhelmingly so. And to top it off, her heart just _had _to be practically humming like a massage chair. Her heart did it just to irk him...he knew it! Every part of Mindy's klutzy little body was _made _just to irk him. Her mouth, her eyes, her hands, her teeth, her veins, and particularly her heart had a sole purpose in life...to rankle and infuriate him to no end. Or at least until he'd yanked himself baldheaded and slipped into madness. And only complex people should be forced into insanity!

"Where to again, sir?" the cabdriver questioned Mick, taking out his blaring headphones for a moment.

"_Ploiteryne's_," Mick informed him with his efficient, but serenely gentle voice.

"Yes sir," the cabdriver gave Mick a curt nod as he ran a red light. "I'll getcha there," And with that, he stuffed the ear buds back inside his ears and drifted away into the land of classic rock music.

"I hate IPods," Josef muttered darkly.

"Me too," Mindy concurred, not even conscious of the fact that she was openly "agreeing" with something Josef Kostan said. "Nowadays everyone is plugged into them, singing off-key to their God-awful music that no one wants to listen to in the first pl-..." Mindy trailed off, realizing what just happened. She needed a cover-up or a distraction and she needed it quick. "Um...Mick? Do they have seafood at _Ploiteryne's_?" Luckily she was rather skilled with thinking fast and blurting out random things. The "Grape Skittle" password idea is one instance of when she used her "mind-blowing" talent.

"I don't know about you two, but I think IPods are pretty nifty little gadgets," Mick smirked.

Or perhaps it wasn't such a mind-blowing talent after all since Mick blatantly ignored Mindy's rather arbitrary seafood inquiry and continued the conversation concerning IPods.

"I guess it's all a matter if they're used too frequently or not," was Beth's input to the discussion.

"And they'd be a huge waste of money for people like Mindy," Josef added slyly. "People whose taste in music leaves much to be desired, I mean. As soon as Mindy, or anyone with her same preference in "music", would download the songs and suddenly the IPod would begin screaming in pain. Before Mindy would know it, the IPod would be lying in a puddle of blood...dead."

"IPods don't _bleed_, stupid," Mindy spat, though relieved that he hadn't pointed out that they had something in common.

"They'd start to if they heard a few seconds of your junk," Josef countered.

"Are you sure you're not confusing _my music_ with _your __crap_?" Mindy asked him sweetly.

"Here we go again," Mick sighed, palming his forehead. "The never-ending music war."

"For your information, Porter," Josef was figuratively loading gunpowder into his bayonet gun. "Jazz music has been around since before you were born. Much longer than your stupid heavy metal or whatever."

"So what? My Grandma Ruth has been around longer than Mia Farrow. Does that necessarily make Grandma Ruth better?" Mindy was now figuratively positioning snipers around the barracks in Josef's camp. "Let's see...my Grandma Ruth is an ugly old bag who does nothing but sit around, eat potato chips, and get pissed off at anyone who feels joy when they're in her presence. Mia Farrow, on the other hand, is a beautiful American sweetheart who's starred in many well known and loved films including "The Great Gatsby". One's older, one's younger. Now _you _tell me...who's better?"

Just as Josef was about to "aim and fire", the cabdriver screeched to a halt, almost bursting a tire while attempting to parallel park by the curb.

"We're here!" the cabdriver announced, much too loudly, of course. "You all are going to have fun tonight..."

"Fun? What exactly do you mean by that?" Josef looked at their driver skeptically.

"Don't you know?!" the cabdriver guffawed, taking out his earphones. "Every Monday night at _Ploiteryne's _is _karaoke night_!"

**A.N. If there are any errors or any funny things, I'm sorry. I entered this when I was jammed into the corner of a fence...the only place I could find wireless internet.**


	10. A Compromise

**A.N. Yes...I'm an idiot jerk for not updating. And sadly I don't have much of an excuse except for upcoming exams shudders well...it may be a good exc****use after all. Exams are pretty rough...and ****a good excuse. Yep...I've been doing...****cue scary music" EXAMS! DREADFUL, DREADFUL EXAMS! AHH! **

**Oh...and don't forget post-exam laziness that I've been suffering from, so please excuse that.**

**Ahem...okay...sorry about that. Another thank you to my wonderful reviewers who've been reading since chapter one and a thanks to my awesome online friend, Sweet Little Nightmares. But I also want to thank the new people who have signed onto this story. I hope you all enjoy it and if there's anything I can do, tell me. I want to go into writing as a profession, so criticism is good for me. And knowing what I did RIGHT is good for me to know too.**

**Anyways...onto the story! Hopefully there won't be this many delays! Hopefully...**

"Really?" Josef arched his eyebrows in interest and he stroked his chin contemplatively "That does sound rather..._fun_."

"Josef," Mick sighed. "Do the world a favor and _don't _sign up."

"I'll second that," Mindy raised her hand and smirked.

"No one asked _you_," Josef grumbled, ego dented slightly.

_"__Kostan,"_ Mindy pronounced Josef's surname with impeccable elocution, though the word seemed to slither from her lips as if it were something slimy and objectionable. "Why don't you consider the well-being of the human race? If you start singing, the entire population within a ten-mile radius will bleed profusely from their ears until they die from extreme blood loss."

Josef twitched discreetly as Mindy said the word "blood". Yes. Indeed he was hungry once more...or at least that's what he thought. His stomach was churning rapidly and greedily longing to be filled with the only thing that didn't taste like gritty mud Yet, how could he be hungry? He and Mick had fed before picking up Beth and Mindy. But, then again, it had been refrigerated blood, so maybe he was hungry for something fresher. Maybe he'd look around _Ploiteryne's _and scope out a sultry, delicious freshie to take home with him. Just maybe. If Mick didn't spoil all the fun like usual. He doubtlessly would. Stupid, "humanitarian" Mick.

The cabdriver cleared his throat. "Excuse me," he held out his hand to Mick. "Ahem."

"I've paid you al-"

"Tips equal love, sir," the cabdriver grinned.

"But..." Mick huffed, defeated. "Alright." Mick forked over a crumpled five dollar bill and placed it in the cabdriver's outstretched hand.

"Thank you, sir," the cabdriver winked debonairly as he pocketed the cash. "Hope you have a nice evening."

Mick gave the man a polite, swift nod before promptly unbuckling his seatbelt and exiting the cab.

Once he closed the front car door, he chivalrously glided around to the side of the cab where Beth was sitting and opened the door for her.

"Thank you, Mick," Beth beamed at him as she gracefully slid out of the car and stepped out one leg at a time, standing upright with elegance to spare.

Mick was speechless for a fleeting moment before giving the dazzling blonde woman an unfathomable, but warm smile.

"May I?" he vacillatingly held out his arm to her, trying not to appear affected by her rather intimidating beauty.

"You're so old-fashioned," Beth laughed, eyes twinkling as she delicately put her fingertips in the crook of his arm.

"Always respect your elders, Miss Turner," Mick chuckled, leading her up the curb and towards the restaurant.

"How am I supposed to respect a crotchety old man?"Beth retorted jubilantly, having a feeling that this was going to be an enjoyable night.

Mindy, on the other hand, had been surveying the two with longing, sad eyes. They were so perfect for each other in every way. They were both beautiful, they were both kind, they were both clever, and they both obviously loved each other whether they'd admit it or not.

How much she yearned for what they both had. _Love. _She and Raymond had it but she'd foolishly just let it slip through her fingers like finely ground sand. Oh, why did she have to let him go so stupidly? Why didn't she stop him and tell him how much she loved him?

"Porter, I know you're having a great time and all, but my legs are feeling numb."

Damn. Still on Josef's lap. Why couldn't the world just do her _one_ freaking favor and swallow her whole?

"Sorry," Mindy scrambled off of him without any delay. She wasn't exactly in the mood to argue.

"Come on or we'll be late!" Mick shouted back at them.

Mindy maladroitly stumbled out of the cab, knees wobbling as her feet tried to remember how to walk in heels.

"Once a Barbie, always a Barbie," Josef said tauntingly behind her as he emerged from the cab with poise, as usual.

"As much I'd love to hear about your Barbie doll collection, Kostan, I don't think we have the time. Maybe later. Then we can go over to your house and you can show me all the new clothes you bought from the Mattel Princess Collection." On second thought, maybe Mindy _was _in the mood to argue after all.

"It's a date," Josef replied coolly, letting her words slide off his back like water on a duck.

"Great," Mindy's confidence was a little crushed, but she kept walking, very cautiously, however. She didn't want to stumble or fall over. No, she wanted to stride as gracefully as Beth did. But while it seemed like second nature to Beth, Mindy had to concentrate so hard that there were almost permanent wrinkles on her forehead as she took every step gradually, trying to mimic Beth's movements.

"Could you _please _go slower?" Josef growled in annoyance, voice dripping with heavy sarcasm as he roughly took her arm and lead her up towards Mick and Beth. "There," Josef gripped her arm even tighter without realizing it as he began to smell the blood of all the people inside.

"Ouch!" Mindy exclaimed, trying to pull away. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Keep your hands to yourself if you can't get along," Beth joked as Mick tried to conceal a wide grin.

Josef loosened his grip. "Sorry, Midge."

"Midge?" Mindy quirked an eyebrow. "Where'd that come from?"

"Midge," Josef repeated, hazel eyes gleaming. A sign he was up to something. "Instead of calling you "Barbie", I'll call you "Midge". You know...Barbie's friend? The one with the boring brown hair who doesn't have nearly the figure that Barbie does. Midge ends up getting married and being a dumpy, stay-at-home mom while Barbie just has a boyfriend and does everything from modeling to running for president. "

"So...you're saying I'm more like Midge?" Mindy's expression was blank. Not knowing whether to be baffled or completely livid.

"Pretty much," Josef shrugged, linking arms with her as the four began to go through the sliding glass door that served as a dazzling front entrance. "But as Midge you still get the disadvantage of having those stupid, tip-toe feet."

Warmth washed over the party of half mortals and half immortals as the door automatically closed behind them. Immediately, the buzz of chatter and business hit their ears. The restaurant was rather new age and fancy with high ceilings and strangely shaped chandeliers hanging from the rafters. There was no certain color theme except for "anything that is considered a color should be somewhere in this restaurant". Yes...it was a little "busy". Each of the oddly "amoeba-shaped" tables was a different, rather lurid color. The worst thing, though was the stage in the center. The stage was painted a bright, pinkish-purple shade and it had sequined, silver curtains. It was enough to make Josef put a hand over his mouth to keep vomiting at bay.

"Whoever thought of this decoration concept was apparently sniffing something," Mindy muttered, making a face.

_Josef snorted at her commentary but immediately switched back to his usual stance. He didn't want to_ _agree _with her again.

"It's...modern art," Josef informed her with clenched teeth, hoping that his eyes weren't bleeding profusely. _That_ would definitely be a dead giveaway. "Something that someone of your status wouldn't be able to..._appreciate_." He was struggling with his words since he found it rather tricky to lie so blatantly. Sure, he was a natural at stretching the truth, but flat out lying still wasn't fun for him, despite what anyone else thought.

"Come off it, Kostan," Mindy snorted unattractively. "This whole restaurant is so ugly that it makes my eyes bleed! I mean...who the hell designed this place?!"

"Actually, I did."

Mindy froze and all the color drained out of her face. Wow...she'd _really _screwed that up.

Josef smirked triumphantly as Mindy slowly turned around to see an elderly woman with a glittery purple dress and a very annoyed expression on her face. A balding man with a grey tuxedo on was standing next to her, glaring daggers at Mindy. That must've been the woman's husband.

"Y-Y-You d-designed this?" Mindy's voice was so high it almost sounded like a squeak.

"Yes, I did," the woman said through clenched teeth. "It's a conceptual design that I worked on for _months_."

"I love the lighting," Josef cut in with an aristocratic grin, pulling Mindy a little closer to him as a sign for her to shut up. "It makes for such a fascinating atmosphere. Your whole concept is phenomenal. I can see what you had in mind. It's like the boundaries of the universe have been broken and colors and shapes have become distorted in one beautiful, meaningful picture."

_"What in the hell?" _Mindy thought to herself.

"Really?" the woman's eyes lit up and she beamed at Josef. "That's _exactly _what I had in mind! No one else has been able to understand!"

"Millie," the man standing next to her whispered. "You ready to go now?"

"Alright, Alfred," Millie rolled her eyes, smiling to herself. "Thank you so much, Mister..."

"Kostan," Josef held out his one free arm that wasn't linked with Mindy's and Millie shook it. "An honor it is to meet an artist of your...status."

Millie gave him a happy nod and glided out of the restaurant, hanging onto her husband's arm.

"Wow..." Mick raised his eyebrows. "That was...interesting."

Beth, on the other hand, was stifling a fit of laughter as she looked at Mindy's ashen and incredulous expression. She looked like she'd seen the ghost of Elvis Presley.

"Josef-1, Porter-0," Josef chuckled smugly.

Mindy didn't reply to his disgustingly arrogant comment. She was still in a slight state of shock.

"You're having a competition with her?" Mick shook his head. "Only you, Josef."

"How...?" Mindy finally spoke. "How the hell did you know that was her concept idea?"

"Oh, that was the most clichéd, ridiculous thing I could think of," Josef shrugged. "It was just a wild guess. And even if I were wrong, she'd still be flattered enough to ignore you."

"You're such a..." Mindy stopped. She'd already had a nasty comeback for him, but halted when she realized something...Josef had done that possibly to _help _her. "Wait just a darn minute!" Mindy looked at Josef. "You...You were being..._helpful?!"_

"You're quite welcome," Josef straightened his tie. "I just didn't want you to embarrass yourself any further. I know you're quite capable of completing that task on your own without an incident like that."

"Thanks," Mindy said quietly, ignoring his last comments. "I appreciate that."

Josef was honestly taken aback by her behavior. There was no hint of sarcasm or disdain, just a sincere expression of her gratitude. Not very mushy or anything, but still fairly sincere.

But despite his surprise, he kept his usual, unflustered, yet superior demeanor,

"I'm glad," he kept his hazel eyes fixed on the waiter taking reservations at the neon-green counter. "You _should _be appreciative."

"Yes, thank you, sir," the waiter put the mustard-yellow phone back in the receiver and looked up at the party of four standing before him. He was a very handsome man who looked to be fresh out of college. He had longish auburn hair and a pleasant air about him.

"Welcome to _Ploiteryne's," _the waiter flashed them all a winning smile with pearly-white teeth. "Do you have a reservation?"

"We do," Mick nodded.

"Under what name?" he asked, looking down at a clipboard that was resting on the gaudy counter.

"Mick St. John, party of four," Mick informed him.

"Let's see..." he scanned the clipboard for awhile. "Aha. There we are." He looked back up and smiled attractively again. "Alright, follow me."

The auburn-haired waiter led them over to a bright-red table and the four sat down in the glittery, hot-pink chairs surrounding the blob-shaped block of wood.

"Thank you for choosing us tonight, my name is Anthony and if there's anything I can do for you..."

"Actually, Anthony," Mick cut the waiter off. "We'd like to speak to your manager, Mr. Ploiteryne, if you don't mind."

Anthony frowned slightly. "I'm sorry sir, I'm afraid that's impossible."

"Excuse me?" Beth looked nonplussed. "You can't refuse a consumer the privilege of seeing the manager. That's ridiculous!"

"Mr. Ploiteryne has been experiencing some health issues lately," Anthony replied with pursed lips. "He only comes out for the award ceremony to hand out the ribbons to the winners..."

"Winners?" Mindy raised an eyebrow. "Award ceremony?"

"For our karaoke contest, miss," Anthony winked.

"How does one win said contest?" Mindy leaned forward, ignoring the irregular table end digging into her ribs.

"We have three categories," Anthony tossed his hair back, grinning attractively once more. "Best Voice, Best Dance Choreography, and Best Performance."

Though Mindy was probably several years older than the red-headed waiter, she felt her face burn. He _was _pretty good-looking.

"Hmm..." Josef rubbed his chin, practically bursting Mindy's bubble. "How does one enter?"

"Josef..." Mick groaned, but only loud enough for Josef to hear.

"It's an idea," Josef murmured to his friend. "We all enter and whoever wins can shake this bastard's hand and see if he's the guy."

"Ah..." Mick's eyes lit up. "That _is _a good idea,"

"I know," Josef smirked.

"Pardon?" Anthony looked up from Mindy to the two men. "Did you say something?"

"Actually," Josef eyed the waiter, trying to give him a warm smile. Not exactly Josef's expertise. "We'd all like to enter."

"What?!" Beth and Mindy almost said at the same time. Mindy came in a little later than Beth since the blonde was far more alert than she.

"I'm sorry sir," Anthony folded his arms. "You need to sign up ahead of time. Maybe next week..."

"Aww!" Mindy interrupted him, pouting. "I really _did _want to do it."

"Well..." Anthony licked his lower lip. "_Maybe _I could pull a few strings..."

"Would you?" Mindy's eyelashes fluttered, not believing what she was actually doing. She never considered herself as much of a flirt. But, then again, not many men ever really showed an outright interest in her due to the fact that she usually wore modest, plain attire and wasn't all that exceptionally gorgeous to begin with. "I've always wanted to do a solo onstage."

The fringes of Anthony's ears became tinged with crimson. "Miss...you see...if you read the sign outside..."

"Yes?" Mindy frowned a bit, desperately trying to look cute.

"Tonight's Couple Night," Anthony explained. "Where couples do romantic numbers together. We do it once a month on Mondays. Though if you want to do solo karaoke, you'll want to come back on Wednesday..."

"You a singer, Anthony?" An imaginary light bulb lit up over Mindy's head. "We could do a number together."

"I don't get off until ten," Anthony said apologetically. "And besides...the show starts in fifteen minutes..."

"Beth?" Mick leaned over to whisper in Beth's ear. "Can you sing?"

"Well..." Beth flushed pink.

"Really," Mick went on. "Don't be modest."

"I took voice lessons for seven years," Beth admitted. "So...yes...I suppose I can sing..."

"Great!" Mick beamed. "I was a musician in my time...so I can manage to carry a tune as well."

Beth's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, Mick...you're not really..."

"Sign us up!" Mick clasped his hands together, looking at Anthony. "We'll go in pairs. I'll go with her..." Mick motioned to Beth. "And he'll go with her," Mick gestured at Josef and Mindy.

"Him?!" Mindy looked appalled.

"Her?!" Josef looked revolted. "Mick! Have you heard her sing? Ever?!"

"Sir?" Anthony cleared his throat, pulling out a notepad. "It appears that there _are _two performance slots...second up and fourth up." Anthony took out a pen. "But we already have the CD's set up and there aren't any songs left that can serve as love duets..."

"How about solo love songs?" Mick pressed further. "We can improvise on who sings what part..."

"Well..." Anthony bit his lip.

"Please?" Beth looked up at him with her beautiful blue eyes.

"I'll..." Anthony sighed. "I'll see what I can find." With that he turned around and left.

"Mick!" Josef's eyes narrowed. "Are you crazy?!"

"Look," Mick's brow furrowed in serious "brooding-mode". "The best way we can confront this guy without making a scene is to enter this contest..."

"I..." Mindy knew what she had to say, but was sorely afraid to admit it in front of Josef. She'd pretended to be so confident in her singing voice just to irk him when she really knew that she was indeed a pretty horrible singer. "I can't...I can't sing."

"Finally!" Josef clapped his hands together, grinning like a hyena. "You admit it!"

"Shut up," Mindy looked down at her hands. "You can't sing either."

"There's a choreography category," Mick suggested, attempting to make peace. "Josef, you've always been a good ballroom dancer..."

"Good?" Josef raised his eyebrows smugly. "I much more than _good_. I'm an _expert._"

"Modesty is a foreign concept, isn't it?" Mick rolled his eyes. "Anyways...you could improvise with your "expert-level" dance moves..."

"Mick," Josef's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I may be an expert dancer, but even an expert needs a partner without two left feet."

"How would you know?" Mindy snapped. "Who says I can't dance?"

"You can hardly _walk_," Josef countered. "How could you possibly dance?"

"I was Swing-Queen in High School," Mindy hissed through clenched teeth. "For your information."

"Oh, did you go to the school for the handicapped?" Josef leered.

"Did _you _go to a school renowned for its bad comebacks?" Mindy glared at him.

"Did you...?"

"What are we..._twelve_?!" Beth broke up the verbal fight. "You both are ridiculous! Can't you just go up onstage and do a number? This could be a life/death situation for Mindy and maybe even several others if we don't see if this is the guy. The way we can find out quickly is to win and shake his hand. Now...let's stop throwing vocal punches at each other and get on with the show!"

Beth's speech brought a blanket of silence over the four. It even made Josef and Mindy stop glaring at each other to look incredulously at the reporter. Mick, however, was wondering if he should give Beth a standing ovation.

"Sir?" Anthony walked over, breaking the silence. "I've found some songs on other performer's CDs...some of them aren't exactly love-songs, but they could possibly serve the purpose."

"Let's see them," Mick's forehead crinkled in concentration as Anthony handed him a long slip of paper with song titles and artists scrawled on with a blue pen, making a list.

"I Won't Say I'm In Love? Disney's Greatest Hits?" Mick raised his eyebrows.

"Isn't that a chick solo?" Mindy stifled a laugh.

"I tried my best," Anthony said sheepishly, nervously opening and closing the silver clip on his clipboard and jumping a bit when it snapped.

Mick snorted. "Back in Black by ACDC?! Is this a joke?!"

"Sorry," Anthony smirked, positioning the collar on his neatly ironed black shirt. "I couldn't resist."

"From this Moment by Shania Twain?" Mick held up the sheet, shrugging to Beth.

"That song goes pretty high," Beth's lips twitched a bit. "I don't think I could do that."

"My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion?" Mick suggested, trying to conceal his amusement.

"Umm..." Beth mused. "Isn't that one of the cheesiest love songs ever sung?"

"Too true," Mick agreed, finger trailing down the list, fearing he was running out of options. Suddenly, his finger stopped. "There You'll Be by Faith Hill?" Mick ran a hand through his curly hair. "I think I know the harmony to that..."

"It's not exactly a love song, though," Beth pointed out, eyes glinting with skepticism.

"It could work," Mick glanced up at her. "Do you know it?"

"Not by heart," Beth confessed. "I know the chorus..."

"That's good enough," Mick gave a sharp nod, fixing his gaze on the waiter. "Sign us up for that one. We'll go second."

"Alright then," Anthony smiled, scribbling on his clipboard with a pen that no one noticed he had. Maybe he kept it behind his ear or something.

"Give me that," Josef snatched the paper from Mick and instantaneously his eyes began to sharply scan the list, rapidly darting back and forth in disapproval until they stopped about midway down the stark-white parchment. "We'll do this one," his long, slender finger brusquely jabbed at a name on the list.

"Let me see," Mindy peered over. Once she saw what he was pointing at, her eyes narrowed in irritation. "Lips of a Dove by _Gentle Dusk_?!"

"One of my favorite jazz songs," Josef puffed out his chest.

"Which is exactly the reason while we'll be doing this..." Mindy paused before adding, "...when we look to the sky and see a flock of pigs flying south for the winter."

"It's a classic," Josef sneered, icicles clinging onto every syllable he uttered. "And a song that was an earth-shattering turn of the tide in the history of jazz music."

"You mean "ear-shattering", right?" Mindy scoffed, quickly seizing the paper from his grasp. She studied the list with her tongue slightly poking out of the corner of her mouth. "Now this..." a smile graced her lips. "...is a song." Mindy shoved the paper underneath Josef's nose. "Vein in the Ring Finger by _Artery Chill."_

"Even if I hadn't been forcefully subjected to your vile "music", I could tell already that that song is pure garbage simply by its title." Josef snarled.

"It's a _very _moving song," Mindy argued, a fire flaring up in her eyes. "It's explaining the significance of the wedding ring being on the left ring finger because some people believe there is a vein in that finger that leads directly to one's heart."

"By "explaining", you mean screaming, right?" Josef took the list back from her. "We're not doing that song."

"Well we sure as hell won't do your song," Mindy counteracted.

"Fine!"

_"Fine!" _ Mindy crossed her arms, seething, thinking of how much she loathed even the ground that Josef Kostan walked on.

"Er..." Anthony leaned onto the table, trying to catch Mindy's eye. "I hate to be a bother, but the show's starting soon and you both need to pick out a number."

"By the Sea from Sweeney Todd?" Mindy suggested hopefully, though not losing the sharpness in her tone.

"Awful musical," Josef sniffed. "I hate it."

Mindy's blood practically boiled. That was _her _favorite musical. How dare he insult it!

But Mindy kept her temper under control, and read off the next title on the list,

"Fernando by ABBA?" Mindy's face scrunched up in distaste.

"I hate ABBA," Josef grumbled.

Mindy disliked ABBA as well...even though her mother played it all the time and was practically obsessed with them. But she wouldn't admit she agreed on something with Josef again, so she read off the last song,

"Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows."

"As a duet?" Josef's fingers interlaced into a bridge.

"Well..." Mindy pondered this. She didn't particularly like the song...but she didn't particularly hate it either. She was rather fond of it several years ago and knew all the words, but she eventually tired of it. She tended to do that with songs. "It's...upbeat..."

"And there's lots of room for choreography," Beth added in, practically_ praying_ that the two would come to at least a semblance of an agreement.

"Do you know the song, Josef?" Mick questioned, crossing his fingers behind his back.

"Unfortunately," Josef studied his nails. Very clean and even. Not a speck of dirt, no hangnails, or even a bit of stray skin. "I went tie shopping one day and that blasted song was playing on a loop in the store. I had it hopelessly stuck in my head for months."

"Umm...I _really _need to know what you two are going to be doing..." Anthony anxiously glanced down at his watch.

"You want to do this song?" Josef asked Mindy with a sigh. "As a compromise?"

Mindy scrunched up her face in thought before relaxing those facial muscles and giving Josef a steady nod,

"Alright," Mindy turned to Anthony. "We'll do it..." then in an undertone, Mindy added,

_"...as a compromise."_


	11. Brief Civility

_**A.N. Alright...I hope you all won't kill me for having song lyrics in here. I begged the site moderators and they said I could have real life song lyrics on the condition that I didn't write out the whole song (which I wasn't planning to do anyways) and if I gave the artists credit in a disclaimer in my author's note. So...I'll say that the song "There You'll Be" sung by Faith Hill does not belong to me, nor does "Accidentally in Love" by Counting Crows**__** (in the next chapter)**__**. Oh...and I also do not own "A Little Priest" from the musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim**__** or "A Whole New World" from Aladdin, the Disney movie. If any of my readers are offended by all these lyrics, I'm very sorry. It is only for this chapter**__**(and only a very little bit in the next)**__** and I will make sure not to let the lyrics be the main focus. I want my OWN descriptive words and dialogue to be what you all read. But...for those of you who REALLY love music lyrics and for some odd reason might be disappointed that I haven't written them all out (the site moderators also said I couldn't copy and paste the lyrics from a site...which, again, I wasn't planning to do anyways). You can look up the song title and lyrics on Google and I'm positive you'll find it.**__** Also...I would like to say that the line describing Ploiteryne's as a kaleidoscope from Hell does not belong to me. It belongs to Sweet Little Nightmares. I'm sorry...but I just HAD to steal it! It was absolutely perfecto!**__** Happy reading!**_

_"We'll serve anyone,_

_Meaning anyone,_

_And __**to **__anyone..._

_AT ALL!"_

The couple onstage ended their act with a devilish pose, back to back. The woman, who had so many body piercings that she could probably set off a metal detector from miles away, hit an unnecessary high note that made the audience cringe. Yet, once they took their bows, the two were met with a thunderous applause.

"Bravo!" Mindy shouted happily, whistling and clapping with approval.

"_Freaks_," Josef grumbled.

Josef, Mindy, Beth, and Mick were all sitting in the backstage area. It was incredibly shadowy and almost spooky back there as a substantial contrast to the glitzy, bright stage and the rest of the restaurant which resembled something you might see if you peered into a kaleidoscope from Hell. The only thing that made it possible for mortal eyes to see was a little string of white Christmas lights, carelessly strewn over a stack of cardboard boxes.

"What did you just say, Kostan?" Mindy gave him a hard glare, digging her nails into the peeling paint of the trunk she was sitting on. Every fiber in her body was fighting against the childish urge to give Josef a good hard pinch. This proved to be difficult since she was sitting right next to him...just within "pinching distance".

"Look at them," Josef peered through the curtain, pointing to the rather..._eccentric_ couple. The two were still taking their bows. "They're freaks. Honestly, the woman is a walking jewelry store and her evening dress has skulls on it. The man has a one-foot tall, baby aspirin orange Mohawk and enough tattoos to..."

"They did an excellent number," Mindy hissed through her tightly gritted teeth.

"What? "A Little Priest" from Sweeney Todd?" Josef snorted. "Which proves my point even better. They're complete freaks. Anyone who likes something about a barber killing people and cooking them into pies...turned into a _musical, _might I add...must be clinically insane."

"I. Like. It." Mindy growled as she felt her blood boil beneath her skin.

"Case closed," Josef smirked, watching the two depart the stage and sit back down at their table.

"And now..." the MC sauntered onto the stage, studying the card in his hand.

"Ready, Beth?" Mick tapped Beth on the shoulder and she stood up rapidly from the fold-out chair.

"Y-Yeah," Beth adjusted the microphone that was clipped onto her dress and she stepped up on the platform, alongside Mick, preparing to go onstage.

"Now we have..." the MC nervously wiped his brow. Poor guy. It was probably his first night on the job. "W-We have Mick St. John and Beth Turner singing "There You'll Be". Er...enjoy." the MC dashed offstage as both Beth and Mick hesitantly stepped onstage, disappearing from Mindy's view.

"I hope they don't ruin this," Josef whispered, peering through the slit in the curtain to see how his friend was faring in the spotlight. The vampire shifted uncomfortably as his rear rubbed against the head of a nail. It was a rather crudely built trunk, apparently.

"How do they look?" Mindy asked quietly as the melodic, soft overture of Mick and Beth's song began to play.

"Mick looks imperturbable as usual," Josef commented. "Beth's pretty stiff, though...a little shaky..." Josef then grunted with disapproval. "He just took her hand, now and he's giving her that pathetically sweet smile of his..." he stopped again, probably just to add an extra coat of sarcasm to his tone. "Oh, and isn't that lovely? Beth has _stars _in her eyes..."

"That's enough," Mindy spat, though her voice didn't come out quite as nasty as she had wanted it to be since a large lump in her throat was restricting her sound. Mindy didn't have to observe Beth and Mick to lucidly see in her head what they looked like. She knew that they probably stood onstage, bashful, timid, but oh-so in love. They were so perfect that it made her head spin. Perfect. Just like Raymond.

_"Raymond," _Mindy mouthed weakly to herself as the music swelled and filled her head with thoughts of the man she loved. No, he wasn't perfect in the classic sense. He was a mite overprotective, he had incredibly big feet, he always would accidentally leave his keys at her house...the man was a smorgasbord of flaws and vices. But...he was perfect to Mindy. Completely flawless. In fact, his flaws are what _made _him perfect in the first place...

_"When I think back on these times..." _Mick began singing in his usual mellifluous voice, yet when his words were put to music, there somehow seemed to be some element of magic from the way it became ten times more calming and beautiful than it had ever been before.

_"And the dreams we left behind," _Beth joined in with him. Her voice was crystal clear as it typically was when the woman did her news reports, but when she began to sing, her tone became rich and sweet, going along impeccably with Mick's gently powerful notes.

_"I'll be glad that I was blessed to get..." _Mick and Beth's voices meshed together into a dulcet melody as Mick sang the harmony.

_"To have you in my life," _Beth finished by herself.

Mindy tried to drown out the sound of their singing by cupping her hands over her ears and breathing heavily. She couldn't bear to listen to them. The song forced her to reminisce and have twirling flashbacks in her brain all having to do with Raymond. This was something that she couldn't emotionally bear at the present moment. She had too much to do, too much to worry about, and not enough time to wallow in her pain. It was something she always told her patients not to do, so why was she doing it? Sure, it was fine, even necessary to have a good cry. But to relentlessly dwell on your sorrows was quite an unhealthy inclination that is, in Mindy's profession opinion, only present in ones who are not sound of mind.

"What are you doing?" a sardonically silky voice ruptured the little protective bubble Mindy had enclosed herself in with its callous, knife-like sharpness.

"Nothing that concerns you!" Mindy hissed venomously. There was so much frostiness in Mindy's manner that she could've made the Sahara Desert shiver.

Josef sniffed. "Well,_ excuse me_, I was just putting out a simple inquiry. If you didn't want to answer it you could've just..."

"Is it possible for you to have even a smattering of sensitivity?!" Mindy growled under her breath. "Even a little bit? Or should I excuse you since you're probably the most tactless, thick-skinned, unfeeling..._bully_...in the history of the world?!"

Josef tensed a bit at her commentary, but bit the bullet. He was used to it. He hardly went a night without having a scathing remark about his supposed hardheartedness reach his ears. And he really only had himself to blame since he did tend to give off that impression.

"It's just like hearing the same track played over and over again on an old record," Josef replied after a moment's silence. "I'm immune to that particular slur at present and I have been for longer than I can remember..."

_"I'll keep a part of you with me_," Beth's voice rang out as she immaculately hit a higher note.

"_And everywhere I am, there you'll be," _Mick and Beth sang in unison.

Mindy felt her eyes grow heavy and she turned away brusquely, not even daring to actually shed a single tear in _his _presence.

But with Josef's vampire sense of smell, he was able to pick up the salty tang of her imminent tears. Though, being Josef, he really could care less,

"What are you sniffling about over there?" Josef chuckled dryly. "Did you and Beth watch _Dark Victory _before we picked you up?"

"I have..._allergies_, you prick," Mindy irately batted her eyelids in hope of keeping the tears away.

"To what?" he tested her.

"Dust," she lied coolly as her throat began to tighten painfully, making her words come out as squeaks.

"There's hardly any dust back here," Josef observed casually. "In fact, it seems like they dust this place out pretty..."

"Drop it, Kostan!" Mindy snapped, though she soon realized that she had spoken far too loud. "Shit," she cursed under her breath, praying that she hadn't been heard over Beth and Mick's number.

"Inside voices, Midge" Josef smirked, putting a finger over his lips as if preparing himself to shush her.

"Would you quit it?" Mindy's teeth were grinding together with so much force that it was a wonder that they weren't shattering to bits.

"Quit what?"

"Don't play dumb," Mindy nails dug deeply into her palm as she balled her fists tightly. "Stop. Provoking. Me."

"It's too much fun, darling," Josef's eyes flashed, penetrating the darkness of the backstage area with their hazel gleam. "You're too easy."

"It's like a hobby, isn't it?" Mindy gulped back searing tears. "Tormenting people weaker than you."

"So you admit you're weaker?" Josef was mildly surprised, yet he still continued to amuse himself by prodding at her emotionally tender spots. She _was_ too easy.

"Just..._die_..." Mindy rasped as a tear rolled down her cheek. She didn't bother to wipe it away as a sign to herself that she had submitted to defeat.

"Way ahead of you," Josef chortled lightly under his breath from the irony of her words.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

"You know..." Mindy bit her lip in anger as another tear fell. "I..." Mindy stopped herself once she realized what she was doing. She was about to _confess _to that cruel mistake of nature, Josef Kostan.

"What?" Josef hid behind a disinterested façade.

"Why do you want to know, you heartless bastard?!" Mindy's voice cracked with fury.

The word _heartless _sent a slight pang to his chilled, seemingly steeled-over heart. The sound of his dear Sarah's mellifluous, sweet laughter filled his head and he closed his eyes tightly, trying to force away the echoing resonance of her voice. Though, of course the vampire knew it was in vain. The vibrant, painful memories of his only love never left him and they probably never would until he was consumed by a raging fire or coated in silver. Maybe even as he burned in Hell he would never cease to hear her silently screaming inside the lifeless shell of her body.

_"In my dreams I've always seen you soar above the sky," _Mick's voice cut through the poisonous silence between the two.

_"In my heart there'll always be a place for you..." _Beth sang passionately. Mindy and Josef could tell without even looking at her that the blonde reporter had a wide smile on her face.

_"For all my life," _their voices intertwined into another exquisite harmony.

"My heart's hard," Josef laughed gently as if laughing at himself. "And it's cold..." Josef intuitively put his hand on the right side of his chest. No heartbeat. He was dead. Yet, he knew it was there. It had to be there. He fell in love with Sarah when he was a vampire so it had to be there. It was simply...dormant. "But...it's there." Josef then scowled to himself, annoyed at the amount of emotion that had leaked into his tone. He despised it when real-life situations began to resemble scenes from a cheesy Lifetime movie.

"Just..." Mindy brushed back her hair. She felt that the curls were already coming loose and getting frizzy. Another reason why she almost always wore her hair up. "I'm not rational right now. Don't listen to me."

"Was that an apology?" Josef inquired almost nicely since the cynicism was _slowly_ ebbing away from his tone. So slow that neither Josef nor Mindy acknowledged it.

"Simply a...factual statement," Mindy sighed. "A habit." Being a debt counselor, it was her job to be rational and when she occasionally _would _become irrational, she was accustomed to informing people in those times that she was indeed feeling irrational and might say things she didn't mean. "No...I wasn't apologizing."

"Oh well," Josef shrugged. "I didn't really have my hopes up anyway."

_"Al-wa-a-a-ays!" _Beth belted out the climaxing note with vehement clarity and volume.

"I could never hit that," Mindy said when the song became slightly softer; trying not to appear that she was moved by the lyrics. She was.

"I don't expect you too," Josef cleared his throat when he realized this had come out too tenderly. He attempted to cover it up. "Our song doesn't go that high."

Mindy buried her face in her hands and moaned. The damn tears were coming again.

"What did I do _now_?" Josef asked, exasperated.

"I can't do this," Mindy let her hands fall to her lap and she straightened up.

"Can't do what?" Josef looked down at his nails. Damn. How the hell did his pinky nail get _dirt _under it so quickly? Stupid, filthy restaurant.

"The performance, you dolt," Mindy stood, holding her head up high as she tried to keep the tears away. She wasn't in a good enough emotional state to go up onstage, _with Josef, _sing, dance, and make a fool of herself while doing so.

_"There you'll be..." _Beth and Mick's number was over and they were received with an earsplitting applause complete with whoops, whistles, and shouts of "Encore!" Josef and Mindy's song would be up after the next act.

"Fine," Josef yawned. "If you want to throw away a chance of finding the guy that'll make you his dinner, go ahead. I don't care."

"Well..." Mindy pursed her newly-chapped lips together as she permitted a surge of tears to spill from her burning eyes. She even let the runny, watery fluid that was steadily seeping from her nostrils begin to mingle with her tears as she kept her hands at her sides, not bothering to wipe her face.

"Now we have Kimberly and Graham Boyle performing "A Whole New World" from the Disney move, _Aladdin_." The stuttering, feeble voice of the MC cut Mindy off and cued the music.

"Well _what_?" Josef stood as well when he realized she had no intention of finishing where she had left off.

"That makes two of us," was her hoarse reply.

"Excuse me?" Josef's right eyebrow nearly hit his hairline.

"You said..." Mindy clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles popped. "...that you didn't care. And That makes two of us."

"You're honestly telling me that you don't care whether you live or die?" the vampire questioned, crossing his arms.

_"I can show you the world..." _the man called Graham began his off-key routine. _"Shining..."_

"Yes," Mindy's voice was only a meager chirrup of what it was earlier. She didn't care if she was confiding her irrational feelings to him. She just _didn't care _anymore. "I...don't care if I die..." Josef remained quiet. "No...I..._want _to die."

There was another silence between the two...well...as silent as it could get when there was a loud performance going on.

"Well that's stupid," Josef stated flatly, breaking their speechlessness.

"Excuse me?" Mindy turned around, forgetting that she probably looked horrible.

"Life's short," Josef shrugged. "And there's nothing there at the other end...in my opinion. So you need to enjoy it while it lasts. It's stupid to throw it away when you've got a whole plethora of things ahead of you in life." Josef smiled a bit to himself, having one of those moments when he was genuinely glad to be immortal. Mortality sucked. He even began to pity Mindy slightly for having to be mortal.

Mindy longed to have a nasty comeback. She wanted to say something snarky so badly that her head practically exploded. But, in actuality, she realized that she had _nothing bad to say. _Josef _was_ right. Throwing life away was idiotic since there wasn't anything waiting in a so-called afterlife.

"I'm sorry," she looked directly at Josef, not needing to tilt her head upwards like other women did since she had height on her side. "I'm just being...cowardly. Not to mention irrational."

"I'll say," Josef smirked a bit, hiding his utter bewilderment at what she had just done. He couldn't believe that Mindy Porter had just _apologized. _

"Is that Kostan-language for "apology accepted"?" Mindy grinned weakly, wiping at her eyes.

"You look horrible," Josef remarked as the shock of the situation ebbed away. "Here," Josef reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an expensive-looking silk handkerchief with the initials "J.K" sewn in the corner with red thread. "Take it and make yourself look presentable."

"Gee, thanks," Mindy rolled her eyes, but took the handkerchief and began wiping away the streaks of mascara and the rather unbecoming mucus under her nose. As she placed the silken fabric underneath her nose, she caught a whiff a familiar, musky, but lemony scent. Millesime Imperial. Her dear grandfather's cologne. She deeply inhaled the aroma of it and clutched the handkerchief tightly as if she were a young child with her blanket. The smell soothed her and made her troubled brain enter into a sweet, serene euphoria.

"Hold still,"

Mindy jumped slightly when she was yanked out of her tranquil ecstasy by none other than Josef who was holding something black in his hand.

"What is that?" Mindy asked after stealing another sniff from the handkerchief.

"Microphone," Josef replied calmly pointing to the microphone attached to the collar of his suit. When had he gotten that on?

"I can put it on," Mindy took it from him and clipped the small device onto the neckline of her dress.

"The "on" button's there," Josef pointed to a little red button on the left side of the microphone before walking back over to the trunk and handing Mindy the black, sequined clutch bag.

"I don't need the purse, thanks," she said with a curt nod, hoping the hoarseness of her voice was going away slightly.

"No," he thrust the bag into her hand. "You do." the vampire stood up straighter and brushed his hair back with his hand. "Reapply your makeup and check wipe off any mascara marks on your face. You missed a few."

Mindy opened her mouth to argue, but decided to just scowl and did what he told her to do. She knew she looked awful and wasn't fit to be seen on a stage in a fancy restaurant.

"And Porter?" Josef cut in as Mindy began applying extra powder. "You can keep the handkerchief. I doubt if I can get mascara stains out."

"Just when I thought you were being nice." Mindy sighed, looking at herself in the small pocket mirror as she put on a little blush.

_"Let me share this whole new world with you..." _

"They're almost done," Josef whispered, sitting next to Mindy who was trying to put on eye-makeup with one hand and lipstick on with another. "Here's the plan..."

"I'm listening." Mindy made a face at herself in the mirror before closing the mirror and shoveling all the cosmetic equipment into the bag.

"Follow my lead."

Mindy waited for him to say more and when he didn't, her eyes narrowed in annoyance,

"That's it?" she hissed. "To "follow your lead"?!"

"Trust me," Josef pulled her up by the arm and lead her over to the platform. "I've been dancing for...a long time. I'll know better than you."

"So you just assume that you're..."

"Can we just be civil for a few minutes, Porter?" Josef cut her off. "We need to do the best we can do out there and if we're both seething at each other, we're not going to accomplish anything." Josef was startled that these words even came out of his mouth. He had never seen himself as much of a diplomat. More like...an assassin. But as he always told the ladies, he was a man full of surprises.

"Fine," Mindy huffed a bit to herself. "Only a few minutes, I guess..._Josef." _Mindy grimaced a bit as she called him by his first name. "But promise not to...well...be too much of a..." the woman sighed in annoyance. "Just don't be _you."_

"You're feeling better, I presume?" Josef commented. "I mean, your insults are becoming much clearer and less illogical than they were before. And I'll say..." the vampire's eyes were dancing with amusement. "You were nicer when you were upset...after the delirious invective concerning my insensitivity, of course."

"Mmm-hmm," was all she could conjure up when she realized the couple onstage were nearing the end of their song. Her heart was racing wildly as she thought of how much was at stake. If Mick and Beth didn't win and if she and Josef blew it onstage, they wouldn't find out if Ploiteryne was the guy or not. This was a life-death situation. Not just a dumb performance.

"What's wrong?" Josef attempted for the first time that night to keep the tone of annoyance from his voice.

"Nervous," was Mindy's brusque response as she clutched the handkerchief tighter in her hand and lifted it up to smell it again. As she inhaled the scent deeply, she felt the tenseness in her muscles begin to unwind and her heart slowed to a regular pace. Her sharp, ragged breaths even began to steady themselves. Her dear grandfather _had _been quite skilled in the art of relaxing her. Even when she was little, it was always her grandfather who could calm her down after her nightmares...never her parents.

"Er..." Josef was, putting it mildly, very perturbed by her actions. "Are you..._smelling _my handkerchief to calm yourself down?"

Mindy stopped mid-sniff and immediately felt a scorching blush creep over her face. "Um..."

_"For you and me..." _the couple onstage held out the last note in a dreadful, screeching harmony, but they were still met with a tentative applause.

"Put it back in your purse," Josef snatched the handkerchief away from her and quickly stuffed it in her evening bag. He then hurried back up to the platform.

_"Ahem," _the poor MC came back onstage, knees slamming fretfully together. "W-We now have...Emma...Austen and...Josef Kostan singing "Accidentally In Love". Th-Thank you."

Emma Austen had been the alias Mindy made up for herself. Mick thought it was best that she not use her real name for obvious reasons and Emma Austen had been the first thing she thought off. Mindy _was _rather infamous for thinking up spontaneous names and ideas...if you remember the whole "grape skittle" incident...

"Port-_Mindy_!" Josef grabbed her hand and pulled her along. "Time to go."

Without thinking, Mindy gripped onto his hand tighter as they stepped into the intense, dazzling lights.

"Ready?" Josef whispered to her.

"Ready," Mindy gulped as her trembling finger pressed the red "on" button on her microphone.


End file.
